Study compares traits, discipline
Older men and those with an international medical education are most likely to face disciplinary action.
By Damon Adams, amednews staff. April 12, 2004.
A new study of California doctors identified physician characteristics associated with the likelihood of discipline by a state medical board.
Males were nearly three times as likely as females to be disciplined. Doctors who were not board-certified had about twice the risk of discipline as did board-certified physicians, according to the study in the March 22 Archives of Internal Medicine.
Obstetricians and gynecologists, family doctors, general physicians and psychiatrists were more likely than internists to be disciplined. Pediatricians and radiologists were less likely to face discipline.
Another study, in the March Academic Medicine, found that medical students who behaved unprofessionally were likely to display similar behavior after they became physicians.
Neal D. Kohatsu, MD, MPH, lead author of the Archives study, said more attention on quality care is partly responsible for greater interest by researchers in physician discipline.
In Dr. Kohatsu's study, researchers examined 890 physicians disciplined by the Medical Board of California from July 1, 1998 to June 30, 2001. They looked at risk of discipline associated with a physician's age, sex, board certification, international medical school education and specialty. The cases were compared with 2,981 nondisciplined physicians.
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