Patient Safety Curriculum

Many medical schools struggling to find resources to teach patient safety.
In the New York Times (3/11) Doctor and Patient column, Pauline W. Chen, MD, wrote although "hospitals have increasingly made patient safety a priority," according to a paper from "a committee of leading experts in medical education and healthcare working with the Lucian Leape Institute of the National Patient Safety Foundation, young doctors are still going out into practice with little education or training in patient safety." Chen noted that "changing a healthcare culture that undermines some of the most important principles of error reduction...has proved to be much more difficult than a safety checklist would lead one to assume." In fact, many medical schools "have had difficulty finding financial support, supportive leadership, and experienced physician-teachers with formal training in patient safety."