Medical malpractice is the failure of a professional to fulfill his duty to his patient, resulting in damages. However, malpractice cannot simply be claimed in all situations that involve a doctor having caused damages to a patient. Damages are only one element — it is also necessary that the doctor was negligent, and that the damages were a direct result of his actions. In order to fulfill the element of negligence, the doctor needs to have, in some way, shape, or form, violated his duty to the patient. As a professional, a doctor's duty is to provide medical services with due levels of skill and care. Therefore, when a doctor makes a mistake that is considered to have used reasonable skill and care in terms of services provided by the "standard" doctor, it will be difficult to make a claim for malpractice. Additionally, there must be damages, such as an injury, which can be proved to have resulted from the doctor's actions.