Abstract
Background: The development of skills, behaviors and attitudes regarding patient safety is of utmost importance for promoting safety culture for the next generation of health professionals. This study describes our experience of implementing a course on patient safety and quality improvement for fourth year medical students in Mexico during the COVID-19 outbreak. The course comprised essential knowledge based on the patient safety curriculum provided by the WHO. We also explored perceptions and attitudes of students regarding patient safety. Methods: Fourth year medical students completed a questionnaire regarding knowledge, skills, and attitudes on patient safety and quality improvement in medical care. The questionnaire was voluntarily answered online prior to and after the course. Results: In total, 213 students completed the questionnaires. Most students were able to understand medical error, recognize failure and the nature of causation, perform root-cause analysis, and appreciate the role of patient safety interventions. Conversely, a disapproving perspective prevailed among students concerning the preventability of medical errors, utility of reporting systems, just culture and infrastructure (p < 0.05). Conclusion: We found students had a positive perspective concerning learning quality in healthcare and patient safety during our course; nevertheless, their perception of the usefulness of reporting systems to prevent future adverse events and prevent medical errors is uncomplimentary. Medical education should promote error reporting and just culture to change the current perception of medical students.
Highlights
The current challenges of many healthcare institutions include rising healthcare costs, poor patient outcomes, shortage of health professionals, and the lack of continuity and integrated efforts for consolidating resilient health systems
We reviewed essential concepts covered by topics suggested by the WHO, but we discussed how preventing avoidable adverse events in a regional context should be pursued
Patient safety was considered an important topic among students (12.2% strongly agree, 87.8% agree), they were willing to receive more information on patient safety (58% strongly agree/agree, 25% neutral, 17% disagree/strongly disagree) and students felt skilled enough to analyze contributing factors when an adverse event occurs through cause-root analysis
Summary
The current challenges of many healthcare institutions include rising healthcare costs, poor patient outcomes, shortage of health professionals, and the lack of continuity and integrated efforts for consolidating resilient health systems. Healthcare 2020, 8, x their role in patient safety and healthcare quality may represent the beginning of a contributive effort to compete against current and future challenges of health systems. Based on Donabedian’s healthcare quality model, advances in the structure of care (equipment, instruments, supplies, standards, regulations, and procedures) should to improvements in can lead to serious adverse events [1]. The way in which medicallead students understand clinical processes medication, interaction with the patients, families, and communities), their role in Methods: Fourth year medical students completed a questionnaire regarding knowledge, skills, and attitudes on patient safety and quality improvement in medical care.
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