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The Emotional Impact of Mistakes on Family Physicians-Reply
Marc C. Newman, MD
Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University Philadelphia
Arch Fam Med. 1996;5(9):496.
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| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings. |
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In reply
I agree with Dr Guazzo that we have created an environment that constrains our capacity to learn from one another's mistakes. A number of factors are responsible for this lack of opportunity. A primary reason is our preoccupation with perfection. Our perfectionism is embedded in personal, social, and professional norms. One of the greatest challenges we face is accepting ourselves for who we are. By nature of our inherent human imperfection, we all are bound to miss the mark and make mistakes. But the high expectations we have of ourselves often do not allow us to be any less perfect in our personal lives than in our professional roles.
The physicians in my study condemned themselves not so much because they feared malpractice, but primarily because they were ashamed of their mistakes and afraid of what other people would think of them. A culture founded on compulsion, overachievement, and being
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
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