Purpose: To improve the foundation of patient safety education received by medical students and assist resident physician educators.
Background: Residents serve a critical role in medical student education as near-peer mentors. Students report positive experiences with residents and perceived quality of teaching have been associated with improved learning, increased clerkship satisfaction and positive influence for obstetrics and gynecology as their career choice. ACOG and ACGME milestones further emphasize the importance of residents as educators. We sought to introduce residents as coaches in an introductory medical student patient safety curriculum.
Methods: Fifty third-year medical students were administered a basic patient safety and quality competency pre-test. Group didactics on fundamentals of patient safety and quality then began with a resident led session followed self-learning through online modules of an established patient safety curriculum. The sessions were aimed to communicate the importance of patient safety and raise interest in quality. Faculty guidance included slide deck for the resident learning sessions and case scenarios to engage group discussions. Students were encouraged to complete online modules of established curriculum by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). Medical students completed a post-intervention survey.
Results: Forty-six of the 50 students in the third year class completed the test. The mean score on the pre-test on basic patient safety and quality competency was 45.5% (s=1%). 47 of the 50 (94%) students completed the post-intervention survey. This curriculum was reported to be the first exposure to patient safety for 82.6% of the participants. 46/50 (92%) of students completed or reported they planned to complete the patient safety course. After one year, 44/50 (88%) of the students had completed the curriculum. Resident leaders were well received by the student participants.
Discussions: Initiating resident-led educational sessions on patient safety encouraged interest in patient safety and in completing certification in patient safety curriculum, and actual rates of completion for the self-learning component were higher than initially self-reported. Obstetrician-gynecologists are natural leaders in the patient safety advocacy movement and can promote early adoption of patient safety principles by actively participating in medical student education. Inclusion of OB/Gyn residents in this process benefits both the student and resident learners.
Topics: CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting, 2021, Resident, Clerkship Director, Residency Director, Systems-Based Practice & Improvement, UME, Quality & Safety, Independent Study, Public Health, General Ob-Gyn,
Melody Rasouli, MD MBA, University of Nevada Las Vegas; Diana Pena, MD Candidate, Class of 2021; Zarah Rosen, MD Candidate, Class of 2021; Faun Botor, MD Candidate, Class of 2021; Emily Guyaux; Nora Doyle, MD MPH MSc
