Are we teaching patient safety to our academics?

Abstract

Nowadays, one of the biggest concerns in the health care field is centered on patient safety with a primary focus on the errors of the medical team. In 2009, WHO created a guide for universities aimed at patient safety in which it suggests new ways of approaching patients, thus improving the quality of trained professionals and dramatically reducing adverse events. There is a consensus that there is a restructuring of a system that currently presents serious failures that result in permanent harm to the objective of the medical team, which is the well-being of the patient, as well as an efficient inspection of the Decree Number 529/13 in Brazilian universities. It is in this context that the present work proposes to highlight the gap currently existing in Brazilian universities, based on the sampling of one of them, located in the countryside of São Paulo. Prospective intervention study using a quantitative and qualitative methodology, carried out in two stages: analysis of teaching plans and application of the quantitative and qualitative perception instrument to professors. Was not found in the teaching plans of the modules of the medical course at Universidade Brasil the concept of patient safety. Semi-structured questionnaire was answered by 47 teachers, 11 (23.4%) of the basic cycle and 36 (76.6%) of the clinical cycle and internship. Professors at Universidade Brasil consider that the themes are extensivily addressed in their classes, although they are not described in most of the modules' teaching plans. Medical education in Brazil needs a qualitative leap, and that leap is certainly in the area of patient safety. In the context of implementation, the multiprofessional edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) patient safety curriculum guide can be used as guidance and a current and very promising development in relation to the acquisition and examination of the skills necessary for safe care for the patient is the establishment of interprofessional training wards. Considering that medical students are the future driving force of change in health care, it is necessary to encourage quality improvement and patient safety education to offer the patient-centered. The graduation, at any time and since day one, is the moment of formation, therefore favorable to the teaching of this topic for students in the health care field, and all teachers should be involved with these contents.