Integrating a Patient Safety Conference into Graduate Medical Education

The Institute of Medicine has established aims for improvement in patient care that emphasize safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and patient-centered medicine. This goal is echoed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) graduate medical education program implemented a Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER) project whose aim is to support a patient and trainee safety environment. An ongoing biannual patient and learner safety conference is able to capture close calls, safety attitudes, potential learner mistreatment, and trainee fatigue in a nonpunitive manner that supports answering the question, "What was learned and what needs to be improved?"

Group recommendations were captured at a quality improvement conference. We documented a shift in attitudes away from one where the institution is perceived to be weakest at supporting safety reporting.

This project is designed to serve as a mechanism for insuring care that is respectful and responsive to patient needs and values. It identifies keys to avoiding wasted re-sources or harmful delay while also seeking to improve care based upon scientific knowledge.