The heart of darkness
Journal of General Internal MedicinePublished 1 July 1992
John F. Christensen, Wendy Levinson, Patrick M. Dunn
Citations382
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.99
SNIP1.71
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TL;DR
How physicians think and feel about their perceived mistakes is described, and how physicians’ prior beliefs and manners of coping with mistakes may influence their emotional responses are examined to promote further discussion in the medical community about this sensitive issue.
Abstract
The perception of having made a mistake creates significant emotional distress for practicing physicians. The severity of this distress may be influenced by factors such as prior beliefs and perfectionism. The extent to which physicians share this distress with colleagues may be influenced by the degree of competitiveness engendered by medical training. Open discussion of mistakes should be more prominent in medical training and practice, and there should be continued research on this topic.
Keywords
PsychologyMedicineHealth Professions
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