This paper focuses on the standard of care a physician owes to his or her patient, providing an overview of the relationship between duty and standard of care in medical negligence. The general principles used by a court and the key factors in court decisions will be discussed and the paper concludes with an analysis of two commonly raised defences against allegations of medical negligence relating to standard of care.

This paper was presented at the Health Law program which was held in Edmonton on March 3, 2011 and in Calgary on March 10, 2011.