Teaching medical error disclosure to residents using patient-centered simulation training

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Patient Safety
• Communication Skills

Background:

• Effective disclosure of medical errors is crucial for maintaining patient trust.
• Improving residents' confidence in error disclosure is a key educational objective.
• Standardized patient encounters offer a realistic training environment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a standardized patient encounter and self-guided tutorial on first-year residents' self-efficacy in medical error disclosure.
• To assess improvements in residents' confidence across Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) core competencies.

Main Methods:

• 55 first-year residents participated in a simulation involving error disclosure to a standardized patient.
• Residents completed the simulation twice, with pre- and post-session self-efficacy assessments.
• A self-paced learning tutorial was completed between sessions; residents debriefed encounters via self-review or faculty observation.

Main Results:

• Significant increase in residents' self-efficacy scores for all ACGME competencies (P < .001, Cohen's d = 1.19).
• External reviewer ratings corroborated residents' self-reported improvements.
• No significant difference in self-efficacy between self-debrief and faculty debrief groups.

Conclusions:

• The intervention effectively enhanced residents' self-efficacy in disclosing medical errors.
• This training model is easily adaptable and beneficial for various healthcare professionals.
• Improved error disclosure practices contribute to patient-centered care and trust.