Blog Post 1

When I first started exploring a medicine focused topic, my initial guiding research goal was about rates and reasons for malpractice cases. I began exploring malpractice cases, and found that there were some demographic correlations. Whether this was between gender, ethnicity, or specialty, there are so many different ways that malpractice was varied. However, through lots of research I figured out that finding demographics relating to ethnicity or race of the surgeons would be quite difficult as most of this information wasn't public. 

Next, I tried to determine if I wanted to focus on the impact of malpractice cases and the reasons why certain individuals or groups were actually filling a case. To do this, I wondered if I needed to focus specifically on the patients. I determined that this would be too broad, and, due to the fact that I personally want to go into the medical field in the future, I declared that focusing on patients is not something that I would want to do. So, I moved in the direction of studying the surgeons themselves. 

I started by seeing if there was a negative psychological impact on surgeons after facing a malpractice case. The data for this was nearly impossible to find, so I shifted my focus and began focusing on the specific specialities that surgeons may be in, and how this impacts malpractice rates. Once I determined that surgeon specialities played a large role in determining the amount of malpractice cases, I narrowed down what I searched up. Whether it be on academic websites or on Google, I used key terms such as: Highest Risk Surgical Specialties. This allowed me to find data that displayed the amounts of malpractice case filings there were against a certain type of surgical speciality in a certain area. With this data, I was able to explore high profile malpractice cases that have occurred in recent years. 

These high profile cases involved large payouts and public headlines that made the public aware of the lawsuit. This idea that certain specialities are involved in high profile cases, and how there is a correlation between the amount of time certain specialities appear in these cases is very interesting. With this idea, I began searching for articles, news letters, and more that covered malpractice cases that made headlines or had massive payouts. Through research and meetings with Mrs.Dobos and Mr.McBride, I expanded my research to determine the many factors that may impact high profile malpractice cases. This includes the state in which the malpractice occurred, the verdict amount from the case, important details about the case, and more. 

Now that my research idea is finalized, to collect data I will look at lots of sources that include data on malpractice lawsuits, and after collecting and analyzing these sources, I will organize my findings into a data table or chart to determine if there are any obvious correlations or patterns found in the sources. I am looking to determine if there is a reason for why certain malpractice cases generate a certain amount of money, where these malpractice cases occur, the reasons for a malpractice, and many other factors that may impact whether or not there was any mention of reform being put into place. So far, I haven’t found any previous research that is similar to how I want to organize my information. I will take note of all the important factors of the malpractice case, including any mention of something that was a result or a potential reason for the malpractice. While compiling my data and analyzing sources, I will also make sure to summarize and take note of important facts that relate to the malpractice case, and are mentioned throughout the article. This could give me insight into potential overlooked key details, and it may also lead me to have a better understanding into how errors occur, why they occur, and the importance of implementing reforms.