Doctor of Physical Therapy Student Experiences During Clinical Education: Patient Safety, Error, and the System

Abstract

Introduction/Review of Literature: Medical error is inevitable due to complex environments and human fallibility. Other professions have published extensively on error reduction and students as a contributing aspect of clinical error. The physical therapy profession has lagged behind. Purpose: To explore doctor of physical therapy (DPT) student experiences with patient safety during clinical education, including factors that could potentially contribute to error. Subjects: Seventy DPT students at the University of Colorado. Methods: Sequential explanatory mixed methods design including quantitative (survey) and qualitative (focus group) data collection. Results and Conclusion: Ninety-one percent of students participated in the survey, and 13% in the focus groups. Five themes were identified, including 1) Facility safety culture, 2) Communication methods and frequency, 3) Widespread clinical education/clinical instructor variability, 4) Dual identity as student and clinician, and 5) Student stress. These themes all have the potential to increase patient safety risk. Discussion and Conclusion: Some issues identified in this paper are specific to students and need to be addressed at the clinical education level but with a focus on patient safety risk. However, many of the issues were related to the broader system and clinical environment and may have occurred without the student present. There are many opportunities for better academic and clinical partnerships with dual goals of improving educational excellence and reducing patient safety risk.