"I would never want to have a mental health diagnosis on my record": A survey of female physicians on mental health diagnosis, treatment, and reporting.

INTRODUCTION: Physicians have high rates of suicide and depression. Most state medical boards require disclosure of mental health problems on physician licensing applications, which has been theorized to increase stigma about mental health and prevent help-seeking among physicians. METHODS: We surveyed a convenience sample of female physician-parents on a closed Facebook group. The anonymous 24-question survey asked about mental health history and treatment, perceptions of stigma, opinions about state licensing questions on mental health, and personal experiences with reporting. RESULTS: 2106 women responded, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Most respondents were aged 30-59. Almost 50% of women believed that they had met the criteria for mental illness but had not sought treatment. Key reasons for avoiding care included a belief they could manage independently, limited time, fear of reporting to a medical licensing board, and the belief that diagnosis was embarrassing or shameful. Only 6% of physicians with formal diagnosis or treatment of mental illness had disclosed to their state. CONCLUSIONS: Women physicians report substantial and persistent fear regarding stigma which inhibits both treatment and disclosure. Licensing questions, particularly those asking about a diagnosis or treatment rather than functional impairment may contribute to treatment reluctance.

Expert witness testimony: the ethics of being a medical expert witness.

Giving testimony as an expert witness in court carries numerous ethical obligations, which are rarely delineated by the individuals who seek such testimony or even known to those who provide it. Because most expert medical witness testimony about the performance of physicians requires that a witness be medically licensed, and because verdicts based on expert testimony directly influence the standard of care that will be applied in the future, providing medical testimony legitimately can be considered to come within the realm of the practice of medicine. Testifying as an expert in legal matters should be undertaken with the same degree of integrity as the practice of medicine and is rightfully subject to the same degree of scrutiny and regulation.

Coping with medical mistakes and errors in judgment.

Attention has recently been focused on medical errors as a cause of morbidity and mortality in clinical practice. Although much has been written regarding the cognitive aspects of decision making and the importance of systems management as an approach to medical error reduction, little consideration has been given to the emotional impact of errors on the practitioner. Evidence exists that errors are common in clinical practice and that physicians often deal with them in dysfunctional ways. However, there is no general acknowledgment within the profession of the inevitability of medical errors or of the need for practitioners to be trained in their management. This article focuses on the affective aspects of physician errors and presents a strategy for coping with them.