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Multicenter Study
. 2010 Apr 27:340:c2040.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.c2040.

Risk factors at medical school for subsequent professional misconduct: multicentre retrospective case-control study

Janet Yates  1 , David James
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Risk factors at medical school for subsequent professional misconduct: multicentre retrospective case-control study

Janet Yates et al. BMJ. .

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether there are risk factors in a doctor's time at medical school that are associated with subsequent professional misconduct.

Design: Matched case-control study. Setting Records from medical schools and the General Medical Council (GMC).

Participants: 59 doctors who had graduated from any one of eight medical schools in the United Kingdom in 1958-97 and had a proved finding of serious professional misconduct in GMC proceedings in 1999-2004 (cases); 236 controls (four for each case) were selected by systematic sampling from matching graduation cohorts. Case-control status was revealed by the GMC after completion of data entry.

Main outcome measure: Odds ratios for being a "case," with multivariable conditional logistic regression of potential risk factors including pre-admission characteristics and progress during the course. These data were obtained from anonymised copies of the students' progress files held by their original medical schools.

Results: Univariate conditional logistic regression analysis found that cases were more likely to be men, to be of lower estimated social class, and to have had academic difficulties during their medical course, especially in the early years. Multivariable analysis showed that male sex (odds ratio 9.80, 95% confidence interval 2.43 to 39.44, P=0.001), lower social class (4.28, 1.52 to 12.09, P=0.006), and failure of early or preclinical examinations (5.47, 2.17 to 13.79, P<0.001) were independently associated with being a case.

Conclusions: This small study suggests that male sex, a lower socioeconomic background, and early academic difficulties at medical school could be risk factors for subsequent professional misconduct. The findings are preliminary and should be interpreted with caution. Most doctors with risk factors will not come before the GMC's disciplinary panels.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: All authors have completed the Unified Competing Interest form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf (available on request from the corresponding author) and declare that: (1) JY and DJ have support from the General Medical Council for the submitted work; (2) JY and DJ have had no relationships in the previous 3 years with any other Companies that might have an interest in the submitted work; (3) their spouses, partners, or children have no financial relationships that may be relevant to the submitted work; and (4) JY and DJ have no non-financial interests that may be relevant to the submitted work.

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