Malpractice fear and job satisfaction among final-year medical students: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

This descriptive cross-sectional study aimed to examine the relationship between fear of malpractice and job satisfaction among final-year medical students who had completed their emergency medicine internship. The study was conducted during the 2024-2025 academic year at a single medical faculty and included 78 volunteer senior medical students. Data were collected through an online survey using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Malpractice Fear Scale, and the Job Satisfaction Scale. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 25.0 and included descriptive statistics, group comparisons, and Pearson correlation analysis. The results showed that fear of malpractice was highly prevalent among participants, with 60.3% reporting high levels of malpractice-related anxiety. A substantial proportion of students stated that concerns about potential complaints or lawsuits influenced their clinical decision-making and led to defensive medical practices, such as requesting additional tests or consultations. Despite the high level of malpractice fear, job satisfaction levels were generally moderate to high, and 44.9% of participants reported high job satisfaction. A negative but statistically insignificant correlation was found between fear of malpractice and job satisfaction (p=0.165). These findings indicate that malpractice-related anxiety begins during undergraduate medical education, particularly in high-risk clinical settings such as emergency medicine, and may influence early professional behavior. Although job satisfaction appears to be preserved, addressing malpractice fear during medical training is important. Educational interventions focusing on ethics, communication skills, medico-legal awareness, and patient safety may help reduce malpractice-related anxiety and support sustainable professional development.