Nobody has died from having a door open in flight. Plenty have died trying to close them... Food for thought.
My point entirely. Especially when low-hours, the distraction and potential loss of control (leaning across, trying to fiddle with the latch, at the same time inadvertently moving the yoke with your knee.....) is infinitely more dangerous than just keeping the bloody thing open. Unless, of course, as Fuji says, it is a problem on the specific type you're flying.
PS: never flown a PA38, so don't know how much of an issue it could potentially be there.
Wombat - that's exactly what my instructor did. He also showed me how easy it is to make inadvertent control inputs while fiddling with the door. Came in handy when the door duly popped open on my long x-country. I just left it in peace and went on my merry way. Nobody got hurt....