Poor communication during hand-offs, hierarchical organizations that prevent frontline caregivers from voicing concerns, lack of patient education, and reluctance to take responsibility for errors can all have dangerous consequences for patients.

To head off preventable adverse events related to medication, physicians can take three important steps. First, they should define terms when inquiring about what other medications patients use. Second, they should ask patients how they will use their new medications instead of asking whether they understand the instructions for use. Third, they should go the extra mile to overcome language barriers, even if that means temporarily interrupting workflow.

Winner of the 2010 Bander Essay Contest, this essay discusses how primary care physicians should manage the fact that their patients visit retail clinics for some medical needs.

Following involvement in an error, professionals at all levels experience complex feelings that include guilt, self-doubt, embarrassment, disappointment, self-blame, a sense of inadequacy, and fear.

The delivery of just health care requires that physicians consider patients' financial circumstances and understand their values, but also that patients make health care a priority.

Teamwork is the key. Hospitals are full of nurses, case managers, and social workers, all striving for better patient care. Communicate with these caregivers to find out what they do for patients and how you can help.

Medicaid is a vital piece of health care for children; any decision to close a practice to new Medicaid patients means more preventable illness, more severe, acute illness among children, and an overloaded community emergency department.

Applicants to medical school are expected to live by their presentation of themselves and of their commitment to medical practice. It is not just a retrospective report but also a promise to which admissions officers should be able to expect them to adhere.

A physician blogging anonymously risks breaching patient confidentiality and misrepresenting the medical profession.

A physician blogging anonymously risks breaching patient confidentiality and misrepresenting the medical profession.