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BackgroundQuality and patient safety (PS) are critical components of medical education. This study reports on the self-reported PS competence of medical students and postgraduate trainees.MethodsThe Health Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey was administered to medical students and postgraduate trainees in January 2012. PS dimension scores were compared across learning settings (classroom and clinical) and year in programme.ResultsSixty-three percent (255/406) of medical students and 32% (141/436) of postgraduate trainees responded. In general, both groups were most confident in their learning of clinical safety skills (eg, hand hygiene) and least confident in learning about sociocultural aspects of safety (eg, understanding human factors). Medical students’ confidence in most aspects of safety improved with years of training. For some of the more intangible dimensions (teamwork and culture), medical students in their final year had lower scores than students in earlier years. Thirty-eight percent of medical students felt they could approach someone engaging in unsafe practice, and the majority of medical students (85%) and postgraduate trainees (78%) agreed it was difficult to question authority.ConclusionsOur results suggest the need to improve the overall content, structure and integration of PS concepts in both classroom and clinical learning environments. Decreased confidence in sociocultural aspects of PS among medical students in the final year of training may indicate that culture in clinical settings negatively affects students’ perceived PS competence. Alternatively, as medical students spend more time in the clinical setting, they may develop a clearer sense of what they do not know.

Incorporating patient safety principles in academic and clinical education for health science professionals is necessary to support widespread adoption of safety practices. It is vital to understand nursing students’ perspectives on patient safety and the extent to which patient safety is addressed in the classroom and clinical settings. In this cross-sectional study, students in all 4 years of an undergraduate program were asked to complete the Health Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey. Eighty-one percent (238 of 293) of students completed the questionnaire. Responses were favorable, with students reporting confidence in learning about a variety of patient safety competencies. Of note, there were decreasing levels of confidence in the third-year and fourth-year students and low-to-moderate correlation between classroom and clinical responses. These results support the importance of consistently engaging students in safety principles early in and throughout their health care programs.

There is the potential to optimize and standardize the nursing role within primary care and improve the implementation of chronic disease management strategies.