Pediatric resident education about medical errors.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Patient Safety
• Pediatrics

Background:

• National organizations advocate for patient safety curricula to minimize medical errors.
• Current understanding of medical error education for trainees is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the extent and nature of medical error training for pediatric residents.
• To evaluate the knowledge chief residents possess regarding medical errors.

Main Methods:

• A national survey of 51 pediatric residency programs was conducted.
• Chief residents were interviewed using a 21-item telephone survey on patient safety training and medical error awareness.
• The survey was developed with patient safety experts and piloted.

Main Results:

• The surveyed chief residents represent approximately one-third of all pediatric residents nationally.
• One-third of programs lacked dedicated lectures on medical errors, and 23% omitted morbidity and mortality rounds.
• Sixty-one percent reported rare discussion of outpatient medical errors, with informal teaching being the primary method; however, 83% felt residents were adequately trained, despite 58% not recognizing the need for systemic change after an error.

Conclusions:

• Pediatric resident education regarding medical errors exhibits significant variability.
• Pediatric residency programs appear to provide limited focus on this critical aspect of patient safety.