Education trajectories and malpractice complaints—A study among Danish general practitioners

Abstract

Malpractice litigation is an increasing concern in general practice and other healthcare services but possibly is susceptible to changes in education schemes. In this study using Danish register data, we aimed to investigate the association between general practitioners’ risk of becoming involved in a malpractice complaint in a 1-year time frame and their educational trajectory. Greater age at graduation was associated with increased odds of later complaints, but decreased odds of complaints leading to critique by a disciplinary board. In addition, the time following specialisation, in particular, was associated with increased odds of complaints. Complaint occurrence appeared unrelated to place of education. These findings suggest that, from the point of view of complaints, attention may reasonably be drawn to the significance of medical education and continuing professional development.

Keywords

• education
• primary care
• general practice
• malpractice
• complaints