Knowing that MDs are human and will make mistakes doesn't seem to help much with how terrible we can feel when a mistake happens.

I'm wondering what other momMDs do to help move beyond a medical error.

I think the most important thing is to learn from them.

It is difficult sometimes to deal with them because physicians are expected not to make any mistakes (although we are all human), and an admission of a mistake may be used against us. One should definitely not discuss specific mistakes here on the internet, where any lawyer can find them! I was taught not to discuss cases that could result in lawsuits with anybody at all, even one's closest friends. I think that restriction makes it very difficult to process the incident. And then there is a question of whether one should inform the patient/family of a mistake and whether one should apologize for it. These are very complicated questions with no simple answers.

So it seems that the safest thing is to ruminate about the mistake in private. And read up on the relevant topic(s) if appropriate. And try to do a root cause analysis to figure out what systems issues could have contributed to the error.

We've recently had several morning reports and noon conferences on this topic. Given the recent statistic in nejm that 75% of physicians will face a malpractice suit by age 65 (although a much smaller percentage of those are paid), it seems that it may not matter much what we do - disclose, discuss, hide, ruminate alone.

But I disagree with this perception. I do not think we are powerless in these situations, and I think many physicians agree that disclosure and open discussion are not only the right things to do ethically, but help us to heal as well.

Sahmd is right that these are difficult topics and discussions best led by experts. However, time and again studies have shown that honest and forthcoming discussion can actually lead to a decrease in lawsuits, and an increase in patient safety as well as physician well being. (in fact, in my state, an apology to patients/families cannot be used against you in court).

Not sure where you are in your career, but if you're in residency it may help to talk to your chief, advisor, etc to see if training is available. You are not the only one facing this dilemma, and learning how to cope with medical error is an important part of our medical training - one which has been grossly ignored and shamed for too long.

Every state has different laws, and we had a medical lawyer as well as an ethicist among others leading our training sessions. We had small groups that discussed our personal experiences with medical error, and it was really helpful to acknowledge and normalize our feelings and fears.

There is a chapter in the book "Healing the Wounds" by David Hilfiker MD on mistakes that I found insightful and helpful.

It is difficult, and would agree to try to learn from it and not let it completely cloud your life. Time helps.

Thanks for the comments. I'll look up the book. Anyone else have any reading recommendations? Physicians should really have a helpline to call that is totally anon (and does not put us at risk for suit) to help us think through problems rather than just perseverate at home alone at 2 am. I'm thinking I should start one since I'm up anyway.....

I think a help line like that would be fantastic! Just don't let the lawyers find out about it....

Hey multitasker, you are not the only one. I was just ruminating just now about my latest less than perfect day. It's hard to not dwell on it. But it serves no purpose to dwell. I definitely learn, I hope, from mine.

Support from this group has been helpful in keeping perspective. Thanks everyone.

My new year's resolution is no longer beat myself up over things I wish I did differently (in medicine as in life!)

Reviewing the case, learning from it, and moving on....