Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Morbidity and Mortality

M&M conferences are one of the more unique things in medicine. I know that I'm not the first person to think this, but when I went to my first one this morning I was struck by the layout.

Not that it was an earthshattering experience, or something that forever changed my life, but rather it was an interesting experience. In what other profession do professionals lay out for all to see--in vivid detail--the mistakes that were made.

Since they have M&M every week, chances are that if you picked a random week you would not hear about someone who accidentaly gave someone 10x the normal dose, instead the most common thing that you hear about is situations where very subtle warning signs were missed, or where a patient died for no clearly defineable reason.

The only people to talk during the M&M conference is the nervous resident who is presenting and the attending physicians who ask the questions. It's not at all like the TV version where people are shouting contentious questions at the presenter, but rather it is a very quiet environment where residents and students can learn from the mistakes and missed signs of those who have proceeded them.

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