Hygiene in medical education – Increasing patient safety through the implementation of practical training in infection prevention

Objective: Insufficient hygiene knowledge increases the risk of hospital-acquired infections through insufficient compliance and therefore poses a potential risk to patient safety. Therefore in 2015 the teaching project “OT Training” was introduced at the Faculty of Medicine (MF) Leipzig and a restructuring of the series of lectures and practical training on the topic of “Hygiene” was developed and integrated in the medical study curriculum. Methodology: The “OT Training” in the pre-clinical component and the didactic restructuring of the hygiene workshops in the hospital semester were comprehensively developed by means of the currently applicable learning objective catalogues and have already been tested in existing teaching (per year N=320 students; 2015-17: N= 960). The “OT Training” and the series of lectures and practical training are evaluated externally by the Faculty of Medicine. In addition a self-developed questionnaire (for “OT Training”) and an internal evaluation (for practical stations as part of the practical training series) were used. Results: Overall the “OT Training” was evaluated as “very good” (N=492; RR=51%). Alongside the high importance of hygiene in the hospital and operating area (Overall(hospital)=97% and Overall(Operative area)=98%) the salient feature of hygiene for self-protection and in particular for patient safety was also recognised at an early stage. Through the series of lectures and practical training which were also evaluated positively, the self-reported level of knowledge and the importance of hygiene for the students improved significantly (level of knowledge M(before)=2.8 vs. M(after)=3.9; p>0.000; importance M(before)=3.3 vs. M(after)=4.2; p>0.000; 5 point Likert scale; t-Test). Conclusion: Hygiene errors constitute a potential risk to patients. Consequently the early and continuous focus on hygiene in student education makes a contribution to increasing patient safety in the healthcare sector.