MEDICAL ERRORS

Course overview

This course looks at medical errors in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, starting with the bloodletting which led to the death of George Washinton, to the lack of sanitation which led to the death of 50% of those in maternity wards in Austria in the 1800s, to the lack of Clean Needle technique as practiced in China, resulting in Hepatitis B infections to 20% of those under 21 in China today. The course aims to reveal the cultural biases which have prejudiced some in our profession against following clean needle practices.