Published research

CMPA research is published in peer-reviewed medical and science journals, and informs collaborative research initiatives.

Browse published articles and resources

• Physicians in practice
• Physicians in training (residents and fellows)
• Emergency medicine
• Obstetrics
• Surgery
• Other specialties

Physicians in practice

Published articles

• Navigating licensure and practice in Canada: A qualitative study of barriers and supports among international medical graduates
• Comparing civil legal actions among international and Canadian or American medical graduates in Canada: a retrospective cohort study
• Legal and Ethical Challenges in Integrating AI Into Clinical Practice: Qualitative Study of Physicians’ Real-World Experiences
• Unravelling the complexities of end-of-life critical care interventions: what drives medico-legal complaints to physicians?
• Lessons learned from Canadian family physicians deprescribing medications in older adults – a five-year retrospective review of medico-legal cases
• Factors associated with medico-legal events resulting from attempted suicide by patients in care
• Wrong-site, wrong-procedure, and retained foreign object events in out-of-hospital settings: analysis of closed medico-legal complaints in Canada (2012–2021)
• Ten-year retrospective study on medico-legal risk of family physicians providing anaesthesia care in Canada, 2013–2022
• Beyond medical errors: Exploring the interpersonal dynamics in physician-patient relationships linked to medico-legal complaints
• Evaluating literature reviews conducted by humans versus ChatGPT: Comparative study
• Lessons learned from a retrospective analysis of medico-legal risks for physicians treating adolescents and young adults with medical complexity
• Strengthening the chain: A continuing medical education program for Test Results Follow-up
• The problem with ‘never events’
• Exploring the dynamics of physician-patient relationships: Factors affecting patient satisfaction and complaints
• Medico-legal risks of point-of-care ultrasound: a closed case analysis of Canadian Medical Protective Association medico-legal cases
• Medico-legal cases associated with older physicians’ cognitive ability to practice medicine
• Identifying a list of healthcare “never events” to effect system change: A systematic review and narrative synthesis
• Diagnostic delays in sepsis: Lessons learned from a retrospective study of Canadian medico-legal claims
• Defining healthcare never events to effect system change: A protocol for systematic review
• Physician questions and concerns related to COVID-19: A content analysis of advice calls to a medico-legal helpline
• Optimizing your diagnostic reasoning – Themes from CMPA medico-legal cases
• Using medicolegal data to support safe medical care: A contributing factor coding framework
• Improved hospital safety performance and reduced medicolegal risk: An ecological study using 2 Canadian databases

Resources

• 10 things to know about international medical graduates (IMGs)

Physicians in training (residents and fellows)

Published articles

• From challenge to growth: Exploring physician narratives of patient complaints during residency
• Patterns and trends among physicians-in-training named in civil legal cases
• College complaints against resident physicians in Canada: A retrospective analysis of CMPA data from 2013 to 2017
• The medico-legal helpline: A content analysis of postgraduate medical trainee advice calls

Emergency medicine

Published articles

• HiQuiPs: Handover issues in the emergency department
• Medico-legal risk in the emergency department
• HiQuiPs: Test Result Follow-up in the Emergency Department
• Resource issues in the emergency department
• Medico-legal issues related to emergency physicians’ documentation in Canadian emergency departments
• Medico-legal risk and use of medical directives in the emergency department

Obstetrics

Published articles

• Delays in Cesarean Sections: Lessons Learned from Canadian Medico-legal Obstetrical Case Files
• The Proportion of Birth Asphyxia Associated With Maternal Heart Rate Artifact During Electronic Fetal Monitoring in Labour
• Promoting best practices in Assisted Human Reproduction
• Quality improvement initiatives in areas of practice with high medical-legal risk in obstetrical care: A systematic review
• Implementing obstetrics quality improvement, driven by medico-legal risk, is associated with improved workplace culture
• A quality indicator framework for high-risk areas in obstetrical care

Resources

• Identifying barriers to timely and safe neonatal and pediatric inter-facility transport
• Recommendations from a national panel on quality improvement in obstetrics
• Delivery in focus: Strengthening obstetrical care in Canada
• Obstetrics services in Canada: Advancing quality and strengthening safety

Surgery

Published articles

• Trends in medico-legal cases against Canadian ophthalmologists: a 10-year retrospective review (2013–2022)
• Characteristics and contributing factors of diagnostic error in surgery: Analysis of closed medico-legal cases and complaints in Canada
• Trends and contributing factors in medicolegal cases involving spine surgery
• Medico-legal closed case trends in Canadian plastic surgery: A retrospective descriptive study
• Intraoperative injuries from abdominopelvic surgery: An analysis of national medicolegal data
• Anesthesiology airway-related medicolegal cases from the Canadian Medical Protection Association
• Surgical fires and burns: A 5-year analysis of medico-legal cases

Resources

• Surgical safety in Canada: A 10-year review of CMPA and HIROC medical-legal data
• Surgical safety checklists: A review of medical-legal data

Other specialties

Published articles

• Aortic Dissection in the ED: A Medico-Legal Perspective on Diagnostic Delays and Failures
• Medico-legal risks associated with laser therapy: A cross-sectional descriptive analysis of closed cases over a 10-year period in Canada
• Assessing adverse outcomes and learning needs in Canadian psychiatric independent medical examinations
• Medico-legal risk of infectious disease physicians in Canada: A retrospective review
• Family physicians’ questions about the COVID-19 pandemic: a content analysis of 2,272 helpline calls
• Medico-legal cases in breast imaging in Canada: A trend analysis
• Lessons learned from examination of Canadian medico-legal cases related to interventional therapies for chronic pain management
• Medico-legal cases involving cardiologists and cardiac test underuse or overuse