USC Mock Malpractice Trial to Prepare Medical Students for Future

February 7, 2008

WHAT:
Fourth-year medical students at the Keck School of Medicine of USC will be given a first-hand look at what happens in the courtroom after a medical malpractice suit is filed. As part of the Senior Seminar Series in Humanities, Ethics, Arts, and Law (HEAL), the event is being organized by the Pacific Center for Health Policy and Ethics, a university-wide program led by the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the USC Gould School of Law.

WHO:
•    Hon. Judith Chirlin, judge of the California Superior Court, Los Angeles County, will preside at the trial
•    Harrison W. Sommer, Esq., the plaintiff’s counsel and Richard J. Ryan, Esq., the defendant’s counsel
•    160 fourth-year Keck School of Medicine medical students
•    Professors from the Gould School of Law and the Keck School of Medicine

WHEN: 
Saturday, Feb. 9 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. for best photo opportunities

WHERE:
Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Dept. 96, 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles

BACKGROUND:
The mock malpractice trial will provide students with a dramatic illustration of current issues physicians face when they enter a courtroom as the defendant or as an expert witness.  It offers an opportunity for students to consider how they can reduce their risk of being found liable in a malpractice action suit and observe how the tort system manages the quality of medical practice. The mock malpractice trial is based on a real case in which a widow sued a physician for negligence.

The USC Program in Medical Humanities, Ethics, Art and the Law (HEAL) provides opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of topics such as:
•    Physician-patient communication and conflict resolution
•    Professional licensure
•    Means of measuring healthcare quality and improving the quality of, and access to, care
•    Cultural influences on doctors as well as patients
•    The role of policies (from those that govern medical practice groups to those adopted by state or national legislatures) in shaping the decisions that doctors make when caring for patients.