"Disbelief and Sadness": First-Year Health Profession Students' Perspectives on Medical Errors.

Area of Science:

• Medical education
• Patient safety
• Healthcare quality

Background:

• Medical errors are a significant concern in healthcare.
• Understanding student perceptions is crucial for future healthcare professionals.
• Initial reactions to medical errors can shape future practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine first-year health profession students' reactions to medical errors.
• To determine if reactions to medical errors differ between academic disciplines.
• To identify common themes in student responses to medical error scenarios.

Main Methods:

• Students from various health professions viewed a video depicting medical errors.
• Open-ended responses were collected and analyzed using inductive coding and thematic analysis.
• Responses were compared across different disciplines using descriptive statistics and chi-squared tests.

Main Results:

• Most students (80%) responded emotionally, with predominantly negative reactions.
• Students identified system errors (70%) as the primary cause of medical errors, followed by provider fault (45%).
• A majority viewed errors as preventable and emphasized teamwork and communication for solutions.

Conclusions:

• First-year health profession students exhibit strong emotional responses to medical errors.
• Student perspectives on medical error causes and solutions tend to be individualistic.
• No significant differences in response themes were found across disciplines, suggesting a need for unified interprofessional education on patient safety.