Are you looking for a medical professional for consultation purposes?
The process of finding a medical expert for your case is a long and winding process, especially if it’s your first time doing so. Aside from educational background, you need to consider factors like criminal records and such.
Have no fear, here are some key tips to consider when looking for a medical expert. Follow these tips and find the perfect medical expert for your case.
Before the Search
When finding a medical expert, having basic knowledge can hasten the search. Here’s what you need to do and consider before hiring a medical professional.
1. Understand Your Case
Understanding the details of your case will help keep your search coverage narrow. Once you know what you’re looking for, it will be easier to identify which field of medicine to concentrate on. From that, you can remove those that do not meet the criteria from the list of potential candidates.
Consider looking into the following information about your case:
- What type of case?
- What testimony do I need?
- Which field of medicine is involved?
- What specialty of medicine or service suits the case the most?
- How many medical experts do I need?
Knowing the answer to these five questions will help you get a general idea of what medical experts to look for.
2. Familiarize Standards of Admissibility
It’s critical to have an understanding of the admissibility standards for your case. Frye and Daubert are two major standards in witness testimony admissibility. Knowing which of the two the court follows will give you a more specific criterion.
Frye states that the opinion must be a “generally accepted” fact in the scientific community. In Daubert, relevance and reliability are incompatible with the stricter “general acceptance” test. Knowing which standard is being used for your case will give you an idea of what type of medical expert to look for.
During the Search
While choosing, look into the expert’s resume to confirm that the expert has a good standing. This can help avoid a situation where the expert’s stated credentials do not match what they have in reality.
3. Professional Licenses and Board Certifications
Review the medical expert’s certifications and licenses to make sure that they meet standards for reliability. It’s best if you are to find a medical expert who has board certification. Board certification assures that a doctor specializes in the respective field.
Most likely, you’ll encounter some professionals who have completed expert certification. Remember that an expert’s education, training, and work experience will carry more weight. Yet, there is no harm in using trained medical expert witnesses.
Medical expert witnesses with proper training can:
- Stay in their area of expertise
- Conducts a thorough investigation
- Understands how to operate in an environment
- Form defensible opinions in court
- Knows which information the court needs
- Can stay calm during trial
- Displays professionalism
- Understands the ethical requirements of expert witnesses
- Writes clear and defensible reports
- Uses a method that will stand up in court
- Understands the litigation process
- Understand their proper role in the process
- Understands key legal concepts and terms
- Tells you what you need to hear
These qualities can ensure that you have an easier time with your case. It’s important in swaying the court’s favor to your side.
4. Does Your Expert Have a Good Reputation?
Double-check the medical expert’s criminal history to make sure that he is clean. Even minor records can be against the expert during cross-examination to remove credibility. An ideal expert candidate is free of any board sanctions, or malpractice claims.
To get a greater sense of the medical expert’s qualifications, consider asking the following:
- Employers
- Close work associates
- Former employers
- Graduate school head
- Peers
These people can provide you information that can help you check the expert’s reputation.
5. Consider Subject Matter Expertise
The educational background of the potential medical expert plays a key role in influencing the jurors. Jurors tend to give more weight to a medical expert who studied in a good medical school.
Another strategy includes finding a medical expert with at least 10 or more years of experience. This can help show that the expert witness has mastered the field, making them more credible.
Other things to consider in establishing subject matter expertise includes:
- News Articles and newsletters published or contributed to
- Books written or contributed to
- Medical Research Papers
- Dissertation papers published
- Ongoing researches
- Newsletters or news articles featured in
In choosing a medical expert, it is also good to find someone who has any academic appointments. Those who have academic appointments show that they are top performers and well-respected. This will further cement a medical expert’s credibility.
6. Conflict Checking
Performing a conflict check ensures that the medical expert witness is not in conflict with anyone connected to your case. Be sure to check there are no conflicts with the expert’s availability either. While you’re at it, check to see if the expert is a part of leading industry groups or any impressive affiliations.
Consider the following when doing conflict checking:
- The company the expert works in
- Competitors of the expert
- People surrounding the expert
- Previous works by the expert
By checking with them, you can identify if the expert has a conflicting interest.
Did you know that jurors will notice expert witnesses’ professional affiliations? A study showed that they consider it making the judgment. Thus when choosing a medical expert take note of their affiliations.
7. Check Their Communication Skills
Experts have the habit to use technical terms when communicating which can be a barrier. Make sure that the expert can effectively convey the information needed. The best medical experts are those who can educate without too many technical terms.
Other characteristics to consider includes:
- Confidence level
- Rigor
- Level of consistency
- Ability to pay attention to detail
- Trustworthiness
- Dedication to work
- Ability to Improvise
- Ability to hold up in pressure
Consider these when looking for a good medical expert.
Find a Medical Expert Today
These are only seven of the many tips to know when looking for a medical expert. Keep browsing through and learn more tips on finding medical experts.
Have any questions and clarifications? Talk to us and let us know how we can help you.