Do faculty and resident physicians discuss their medical errors?

Physicians who commit medical errors experience significant emotional distress as a result. Such emotions may limit their willingness to disclose errors to patients, especially if physicians do not feel supported by their peers. Conducted at a teaching hospital, this survey provides encouraging results, in that most physicians reported discussing an error with a colleague and most found the experience to be beneficial. In order to provide emotional support for physicians, one hospital has implemented a peer support program for discussion of adverse events. An AHRQ WebM&M commentary discusses the effect an error had on a resident physician.