Integrating Patient Safety in the OMFS Curriculum: Survey of 4-Year Residency Programs.

PURPOSE: In 2003, the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) Committee on Health Professions Education Summit reported that students in all health professions should demonstrate competency in patient safety and performance improvement strategies to reduce the incidence of preventable medical errors. These recommendations have been adopted in medical, pharmacy, and nursing accreditation standards, yet not required in dental education. The purpose of this study was to explore if 4-year oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) residency programs are aligned with other health professions in following the Institute of Medicine's recommendations to incorporate evidence-based patient safety training in the postgraduate curricula. METHODS: In October of 2012, a multiple choice questionnaire was sent to 27 four-year oral and maxillofacial surgery residency program directors via a link to Survey Monkey. A descriptive analysis of responses was performed upon achieving a 74% response rate. RESULTS: Ninety-five percent of the responding 4-year OMFS programs have integrated patient safety training in the residency curriculum. Seventy percent complete between 2 and 10 hours of safety training per academic year. Eighty percent of the programs apply human factors and system engineering theories in morbidity and mortality conferences, and 50% require residents to perform root cause analyses (RCA) of adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that the majority of 4-year OMFS programs include patient safety education in the residency curriculum, although the duration of training and integration of acquired knowledge into practice varied among participants.

Reducing oral and maxillofacial surgery resident risk exposure: lessons from graduate medical education reform.

It is estimated that, in the United States, more than 40,000 patients are injured each day because of preventable medical errors. Although numerous studies examine the causes of medical trainee errors and efforts to mitigate patient injuries in this population, little research exists on adverse events experienced by oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) residents or strategies to improve patient safety awareness in OMFS residency programs. The authors conducted a retrospective literature review of contemporary studies on medical trainees' reported risk exposure and the impact of integrating evidence-based patient safety training into residency curricula. A review of the literature suggests that OMFS residents face similar risks as medical trainees in medical, surgical, and anesthesia residency programs and may benefit from integrating competency-based safety training in the OMFS residency curriculum. OMFS trainees face particular challenges when transitioning from dental student to surgical resident, particularly related to their limited clinical exposure to high-reliability organizations, which may place them at higher risk than other medical trainees. OMFS educators should establish resident competence in patient safety principles and system improvement strategies throughout the training period.