The attitudes of Korean medical students toward patient safety

PURPOSE: This study investigated the attitudes of Korean medical students about patient safety to determine which perspectives required increased focus in terms of educational development. METHODS: Attitudes were assessed using the Patient Safety Questionnaire, a tool designed to measure attitudes toward patient safety among medical students. Questionnaires were distributed to 580 clinical year students across four medical schools in December 2018. RESULTS: A total of 300 returned questionnaires were used in the final analysis. More than half of all respondents agreed (i.e., gave more than 4 out of 7 points) with most items and thoroughly considered the concept of patient safety. However, many students misperceived several items (e.g., professional incompetence as a cause of errors, disclosure responsibility, the importance of patient safety in the curriculum, and situational awareness). CONCLUSION: Attitudes toward patient safety are highly important due to their substantial impacts on behavioral decisions in the clinical setting. As such, patient safety education should be designed to place greater emphasis on proper attitude. This study’s findings should be useful for medical instructors who wish to determine the appropriate areas of curricular focus.