Safety in Numbers: Successful Student-Approved Case-Based Interprofessional Safety Workshop Utilizing Simulated Real-Life Safety Cases

INTRODUCTION: Increasing emphasis on medical trainee competence in patient safety and quality improvement processes has led to development of various safety and quality curricula. METHODS: Curriculum surveys indicated our medical school's module-based safety and quality improvement curriculum did not meet student satisfaction benchmarks. We developed a single-day interprofessional patient safety workshop combining students from three different health care training programs (medical doctor, physician assistant, nurse anesthetist). Clinical facilitators from each profession were paired with institutional safety and quality officers. A novel curriculum was created based on a real patient safety case: Students were charged with conducting key interviews of those involved in the event as a root cause analysis (RCA) and developing a process improvement plan based on their RCA findings to present to a panel of institutional executives. Pre- and postevent surveys were completed and analyzed by trainee program. RESULTS: This workshop improved students’ attitudes regarding interprofessional education and expanded their knowledge of investigating safety events. Overall, assessed knowledge and attitudes improved 53% over the previous safety curriculum. Eighty-one percent of students agreed or strongly agreed that the workshop helped them think about the health care system in a new and different way. One corrective action suggested by a student group during the executive panel was later adopted by our institution and resulted in a permanent change to our health care system. DISCUSSION: This case-based interprofessional workshop was well received by students and facilitators and allowed purposeful interactions between students in different arenas of medical training.