MEDICAL SCIENCE EDUCATOR The Journal of the International Association of Medical Science Educators Med Sci Educ 2011; 21(2): 141

INNOVATION

Patient Safety Education in Medical Education Anne J. Gunderson1, Ara Tekian2 & Kelly Smith2 1

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA

2

The Lucian Leape Institute at the National Patient Safety Foundation released a white paper entitled Unmet Needs: Teaching Physicians to Provide Safe Patient Care (2010).1 The authors of the white paper found that medical schools are not doing an adequate job of preparing future physicians for safe medical practice. The Association of American Medical Colleges (2004) has noted that reforming medical education to address safety and quality presents a challenge to medical educators because the shortcomings which must be addressed are deeply entrenched in the tradition and culture of institutions composing the medical education system.2 Twenty two medical students participated in a two week patient safety elective course developed for students in their final year of medical school. Program evaluation included two years of quantitative data collected through the Health Crew Management Attitude Questionnaire (HCMAQ) and qualitative data collected through student focus groups one year post-course completion. The qualitative and quantitative perception data were merged. Themes identified by participants included: (a) importance of patient safety education, (b) relevance of course content, (c) existence of individual responsibility, (d) medical errors are system and individual based, and (e) importance of teamwork in safe patient care. Significant improvements occurred in HCMAQ summary scores. Notably, 89% of the students indicated the course influenced them to take personal responsibility and become involved in patient safety work in their medical practice. Participants described the course as a “revelation”, and admitted they had essentially been unaware of the patient

safety crisis as they had primarily focused on learning basic science and disease diagnosis and treatment during medical school. This pilot study suggests that formal patient safety education for medical students can positively influence knowledge, skill, attitudes, related to safe patient care. More importantly, findings revealed that one year after the course participants believed the learning experience positively influenced their medical practice behavior.

References 1.

National Patient Safety Foundation. Unmet needs: Teaching physicians to provide safe patient care (Report by the Lucian Leape Institute). Boston, MA: Author. 2010. 2. American Association of Medical Colleges. Educating doctors to provide high quality medical care: A vision for medical education in the United States (Report of the Ad Hoc Committee of Deans). Washington, DC: Author. 2004.

Corresponding author: Anne J. Gunderson EdD GNP, Associate Dean for Medical Education, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 231 Albert Sabin Way, PO Box 670552, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0552, USA. Tel: +1-513-558-7315, Fax: +1-513-558-4407, Email: [email protected]

Medical Science Educator

© IAMSE 2011

Volume 21 (2)

141