USC Holds Mock Malpractice Trial, Saturday, Feb. 9

From the University of Southern California Law News Service
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0071
Contact: Gilien Silsby at (213) 740-9690 or (213) 500-8673

Media advisory

Trial is part of a year-long course that examines law, ethics, economics and humanities

WHAT: As part of the “Humanities, Ethics, Arts and Law” (HEAL) seminar, fourth-year medical students at the Keck School of Medicine of USC will be given a first-hand look at what happens in the courtroom after a medical malpractice suit is filed.

The mock malpractice trial, based on a real case, will provide students with a dramatic illustration of the issues facing physicians as defendants or expert witnesses. It also aims to encourage the future physicians to reduce their risk of being found liable in a malpractice action, as well as examine how effective the tort system is—or is not—in improving the quality of medical practice.

WHO:

• Hon. Judith Chirlin, judge of the California Superior Court, Los Angeles County, will preside at the trial
• Harrison W. Sommer, Esq., the plaintiff’s counsel, and Richard J. Ryan, Esq., the defendant’s counsel
• 160 fourth-year Keck School of Medicine students
• Prof. Alexander Capron of the Gould School of Law and several professors at the Keck School of Medicine

WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 9, from 8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m.

WHERE: Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Dept. 96, 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles

BACKGROUND: USC, through its Pacific Center for Health Policy and Ethics, a university-wide program led by the Gould School of Law and the Keck School of Medicine, has been a pioneer in the teaching of law, ethics and humanities to medical students. Although malpractice trials have been presented as part of this program for nearly 25 years, this is the first time the trial will be held at the county courthouse. Besides the trial, the HEAL program helps students to understand:

• Physician-patient communication and conflict resolution;
• Professional licensure and discipline;
• Means of measuring healthcare quality and improving the quality of, and access to, care;
• Cultural influences on doctors as well as patients;
• The role of policies (from those that govern medical practice groups to those adopted by state or national legislatures) in shaping the decisions that doctors make when caring for patients.