Diagnostic Safety: Needs Assessment and Informed Curriculum at an Academic Children's Hospital

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Healthcare Quality and Safety
• Diagnostic Medicine

Background:

• Diagnostic excellence is crucial for patient safety.
• Prior studies identified psychological safety and time constraints as barriers to diagnostic reasoning education.
• A needs assessment was conducted to guide the development of diagnostic safety education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess current educational programs and identify optimal delivery methods for diagnostic reasoning education.
• To understand the perspectives of educational leaders and clinicians on diagnostic safety.
• To inform the creation of a diagnostic reasoning curriculum.

Main Methods:

• Surveys were distributed to 155 interprofessional educational leaders and 627 clinicians.
• Focus groups were conducted with 7 educators and 16 learners.
• Data analysis involved directed content analysis to identify key themes.

Main Results:

• Only 5% of surveyed education leaders reported formal diagnostic reasoning training.
• Learners expressed discomfort with discussing diagnostic uncertainty and preferred case-based and bedside learning.
• Key needs identified were faculty development, institutional culture change, and improved reporting of missed diagnoses.

Conclusions:

• There is significant interest in medical diagnosis education, but implementation barriers exist.
• Developing communication skills for diagnostic errors and uncertainty is essential across disciplines.
• Findings guided the development of a pilot diagnostic reasoning curriculum for faculty and trainees.