Keywords

Medical Doctor, Medical Education, Domestic Medical School, Foreign Medical School, Physician Discipline, Medical Malpractice

Abstract

It has been estimated that in the United States, between 44,000 to 98,000 patients succumb to medical errors each year. Due to a shortage of graduates of domestic medical schools, many graduates of foreign medical schools are practicing in the United States. The medical education received in foreign medical schools may not be equivalent to the medical education received in domestic medical schools, which are schools located in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Differences due to the educational backgrounds of the foreign-schooled physicians may contribute to an increase in medical board disciplining. Furthermore, graduates of medical schools where the instruction is not conducted in the English language may receive increased medical board disciplining when compared to the graduates of medical schools where English is the language of instruction. Finally, domestic medical schools that are ranked low according to The Gourman Report, 8th Edition may provide a substandard medical education, causing their graduates to have increased rates of discipline when compared to peers who have graduated from higher ranked medical schools. This study examines the effects of undergoing foreign medical training as opposed to domestic medical training and receiving medical school instruction in the English language or another language, on the frequency and severity of disciplinary action taken by the Florida Board of Medicine against medical doctors licensed in Florida since 1952 (N = 39,559). Also examined are the effects of attending domestic medical schools that are ranked lower than other domestic medical schools on the frequency and severity of disciplinary action taken by the Florida Board of Medicine against medical doctors licensed in Florida since 1952 (n = 25,479). Control variables used in this logistic regression analysis include whether the medical doctor is specialty board certified or not, the specialty practiced and the medical doctor's race and gender. Archival data from the Florida Department of Health were used for this study. This study found that the graduates of medical schools where the instruction is not in the English language are more likely to receive discipline and are more likely to receive more severe types of discipline than graduates of medical schools where the instruction is in the English language. It was also found that medical doctors who are ABMS certified, are practicing either a surgical specialty, obstetrics, gynecology, psychiatry, emergency medicine, family medicine or diagnostic radiology, or are male have increased odds of being disciplined by the Florida Board of Medicine.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2008

Advisor

Fottler, Myron

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Health and Public Affairs

Degree Program

Public Affairs

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0002392

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0002392

Language

English

Release Date

December 2008

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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