The Law-Medicine Center at Case Western Reserve University School of Law will host a national forum for medical students to discuss the threats they may face that could interfere with their ability to properly care for their patients. These threats include retaliation by hospitals and other employers or health insurers against physicians who advocate for their patients’ needs, raise concerns about quality of care, or order costly, medically necessary care.
“Starting a Career in Medicine—Threats to Healthy Doctor-Patient Relationships: A National Forum for Medical Students” will be held Feb. 21–22. The event is open to medical students and other members of the CWRU community, who can attend in person or remotely via Zoom. Attendees can earn continuing medical education and continuing legal education credits.
The forum will begin Friday afternoon with presentations by physicians and legal experts describing these threats and how they arose historically. Speakers on Saturday morning will describe the legal protections that exist for physicians against these threats and how physicians can get help to invoke them. Saturday afternoon breakout sessions will cover what can be done to strengthen these legal protections, including systemic changes that might both improve care and decrease the threats, and what medical students specifically can do. After reconvening to hear the breakout groups’ suggestions, the forum will conclude by considering how medical students should be educated about these issues.
Register to attend by Feb. 14.