Around the country, teaching hospitals offer some of the best care available. Physicians-in-training are closely supervised by licensed physicians, who are required to sign off on medications and treatments. Even so, it’s possible for a medical student to make a mistake.
When a serious mistake does occur, a medical malpractice claim can result. These claims consist of four elements:
1. A caregiver must owe a professional duty of care to a patient.
2. A caregiver must fail to deliver the proper standard of care.
3. The patient must suffer an injury as a direct result of the caregiver’s failure.
4. The patient must experience harm for which the caregiver can compensate them.
In most cases, a supervising physician is held liable for medical mistakes made on behalf of their students.
However, the student is still likely to be named in the lawsuit and may have to hire their own attorney. Because of this risk, many teaching hospitals and clinics now require medical students to obtain their own medical malpractice insurance.
Doctors and students have different needs, so malpractice insurance for doctors-in-training works differently, too. Lockton Affinity partnered with AMSA to develop the Academic Medical Professional Insurance Program (AMPI) just for doctors-in-training.
AMPI offers affordable short-term coverage, administered by Lockton Affinity, to students participating in clinical electives, rotations and observations. Customizable short-term options from two weeks to two months are available, with policy limits of $1 million per occurrence and $3 million aggregate, the standard requirement for medical students.
This worldwide coverage starts as low as $230 per month, with occurrence coverage that protects students from claims occurring during the policy period, and even those brought after a rotation has ended.
Additionally, AMSA members can receive a preferred rate of 10% off AMPI standard policy pricing.
To learn more, visit AMPIMedMal.com.
DISCLAIMER: The following information is being sent to AMSA members on behalf of Lockton Affinity, LLC, a licensed insurance producer. Any recommendation or advice provided is based upon the opinion of Lockton Affinity, LLC and not AMSA.
