Medico-legal medicine is simply that, medicine and law combined. Essentially, a medico-legal case is a medical case where the attending doctor calls in law enforcement forces after examining a patient. Or a legal case that needs the input of medical experts when law enforcement authorities bring it forward for investigation. To qualify as a medico-legal adviser (MLA), you have to be an experienced doctor with years of practice since your work entails advising other doctors when they are caught in a legal web.
It is an interesting branch of medicine/law which lets you test the best of both worlds. If you are thinking of offering medico legal assessments services, here are a few facts about medico-legal consultancy you should know.
It is a balancing act
As an MLA, your GP experience isn’t just enough to get you by. You will probably be bombarded with a lot of information which needs your urgent attention at one given time. Your ability to handle everything on your plate with great detail and intelligence is what will set you apart from everyone else. On a typical day, you will talk to your colleagues who are facing legal battles, deal with documented work, attend conferences, attend lectures, write articles and so forth. You cannot afford not to multi-task effectively.
The job is unpredictable
For the most part, MLA’s handle cases surrounding other doctors. Basically, they try and manage claims of medical negligence, assist members with hearings, help their counterparts respond to complaints and write inquest reports. The job sometimes requires face-to-face meetings or conference calls which can last for hours on end. If an MLA isn’t busy dealing with a case, they would be on the phone giving advice to a member’s professional conduct or clinical incompetence. If a member’s reputation is at stake, medico legal assessments services will come in handy during the anxious time. One can be speaking to a doctor and the next would find them out of the office handling another emergency situation.
Ask any MLA and they would tell you that no matter the difficulty and unpredictability of the job, there’s a lot of pleasure derived from it. Many say that it offers great opportunities and rewards for those willing to go through the hurdles of becoming an MLA but the very fact that they eventually help others get out of a mess is priceless. So, if you have been thinking of becoming a medico legal assessments consultant, now is the time to go for it. Hopefully, the above highlighted facts will point you in the right direction as far as this lucrative career is concerned.
