Evaluating the Integration of Patient Safety in Medical Training in Spain

TL;DR

This study assesses how well Spanish medical schools include patient safety in their training and finds that most do not fully cover WHO-recommended topics.

Contribution

The study provides a comprehensive evaluation of patient safety curriculum integration in Spanish medical education.

Findings

82% of Spanish medical faculties included some patient safety topics in their curriculum.

Only 56% of faculties covered between 1 and 3 of the 11 WHO-recommended patient safety topics.

Just one faculty integrated the maximum of 7 recommended topics.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the degree of integration of patient safety in the training of medical faculties at universities in Spain.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted. An assessment was made of the curse syllabi of Spanish medical schools, summarizing the proportion of faculties that present each of the topics recommended in the WHO’s curriculum guide.

Results: Of the 49 faculties, access to the curse syllabus of the subjects for the academic year 2023-2024 was obtained from 38 (78%). Although 82% of the faculties integrated some patient safety topic, only 56% included between 1 and 3 of the 11 topics recommended by WHO. The maximum number of integrated topics was 7, and this was only achieved by 1 faculty.

Conclusion: There is progress in the incorporation of fundamental concepts in patient safety, but the comprehensive implementation of all topics recommended by the WHO in Spanish medical schools is insufficient.

Figures