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	Institution: STANFORD Univ Med Center  | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In Vol. 5 No. 2, February 1996   Archives  •  Online Features ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION  This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal The Emotional Impact of Mistakes on Family Physicians Marc C. Newman, MD Arch Fam Med. 1996;5(2):71-75. Abstract Objective To explore the emotional impact of the most memorable mistake on family physicians, the support they needed and received, and their response to a hypothetical scenario in which a colleague's decision was associatedh a fatal outcome. Setting and Participants Randomly selected memmembersbersunty chapter of a midwestern state academy of family physicians. Design Qualitative cross-secross-in-nal depth interviews subject to content analysis. Methods Iaudiotapeds with each of the physiciansir offices. Two medical sociologists and I first independently, and then consensually, categorized the data based on the frequency with which a word or idea appeared in the text. Results Thirty (75%) of the 40 physicians originally contacted participated in the study. Twenty-three (77%) of the 30 physicians admitted to making a mistake. The physicians experienced emotional adversity. Of 27 physicians, 17 (63%) needed someone to talk to, 13 (48%) needed to review their case management, 16 (59%) needed professional reaffirmation, and eight (30%) needed personal reassurance. Having someone to talk to was the support that 12 (44%) of the 27 physicians most. Eighteen (67%) of 27 received this support from someone other than their peers. Although all subjects recognized their colleague's pain and need for support in the hypothetical scenario, only nine (32%) of 28 physicians would have unconuncon-ditionally Making mistakes unfavorably affects familyysicians and creates a strong need for support. Familyysicians may benefit from sharing experiences that diminish perfectionism and recognize mistakes as a naturalrt of practicing medicine. Further research needs to address how physicians can be encouraged toward therapeutic self-disclosurert. Author Affiliations From the Department of Family Medicine, Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University, Philadelphia. THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES The natural history of recovery for the healthcare provider "second victim" after adverse patient events Scott et al. Qual Saf Health Care 2009;18:325-330. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Do faculty and resident physicians discuss their medical errors? Kaldjian et al. J. Med. Ethics 2008;34:717-722. 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FULL TEXT   How Do Mistakes Affect Physicians? Journal Watch Dermatology 1996;1996:13-13. FULL TEXT   HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | CME | PHYSICIAN JOBS | HELP CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP   © 1996 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.