At this point the gross misjudgments and errors in clinical practice or other signs of bizarre and untoward behaviors which characterized the illness are so obvious that it requires little or no expertise in identifying them. A heartening note is that work done with impaired physicians pays off. 15 Most clients of impairment programs can be treated successfully. Remember, it is the view of the American Medical Association that it is within the code of medical ethics to take action once there is any question of patient safety. In addition to this, one is really performing an act of kindness and benevolence toward your colleague.
Primary prevention can begin in medical school.
Medical education is a tedious, arduous and expensive process. The student faces a vast array of challenges and accumulates a remarkable fund of knowledge and insights during this time learning identification and treatment of the range of diseases which beset mankind. In the early clinical years, there is a tendency for a quasi- hypochondriacal mindset to develop in many students as they witness the succession of pathology to which mankind may succumb, but this is generally and fairly quickly replaced with a posture of detachment and objectivity. To some extent, this probably fosters the growth of denial, its cousin rationalization, and the omnipotence alluded to in the earlier sections of this paper. Student and physician alike need to be reminded that there is no evidence whatsoever that simply attaining a medical degree confers upon the graduate any immunity to the development of disease.