Purpose Safety culture may exert an important influence on the adoption and learning of patient safety practices by learners at clinical training sites. This study assessed students’ perceptions of safety culture and identified curricular gaps in patient safety training. Method A total of 170 fourth-year medical students at the University of California, San Francisco, were asked to complete a modified version of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture in 2011. Students responded on the basis of either their third-year internal medicine or surgery clerkship experience. Responses were recorded on a five-point Likert scale. Percent positive responses were compared between the groups using a chi-square test. Results One hundred twenty-one students (71% response rate) rated “teamwork within units” and “organizational learning” highest among the survey domains; “communication openness” and “nonpunitive response to error” were rated lowest. A majority of students reported that they would not speak up when witnessing a possible adverse event (56%) and were afraid to ask questions if things did not seem right (55%). In addition, 48% of students reported feeling that mistakes were held against them. Overall, students reported a desire for additional patient safety training to enhance their educational experience. Conclusions Assessing student perceptions of safety culture highlighted important observations from their clinical experiences and helped identify areas for curricular development to enhance patient safety. This assessment may also be a useful tool for both clerkship directors and clinical service chiefs in their respective efforts to promote safe care.

More than 60 percent of newborns with severe congenital heart disease develop perioperative brain injuries. Known risk factors include: preoperative hypoxemia, cardiopulmonary bypass characteristics, and postoperative hypotension. Infection is an established risk factor for white matter injury in premature newborns. In this study, we examined term infants with congenital heart disease requiring surgical repair to determine whether infection is associated with white matter injury. Acquired infection was specified by site (bloodstream, pneumonia, or surgical site infection) according to strict definitions. Infection was present in 23/127. Pre and post-operative imaging was evaluated for acquired injury by a pediatric neuroradiologist. Overall, there was no difference in newly acquired postoperative white matter injury in infants with infection (30 percent), compared to those without (31 percent). When stratified by anatomy, infants with transposition of the great arteries and bloodstream infection had an estimated doubling of risk of white matter injury that was not significant, whereas those with single ventricle anatomy had no apparent added risk. When considering only infants without stroke, the estimated association was higher, and became significant after adjusting for duration of inotrope therapy. In this study, nosocomial infection was not associated with white matter injury. Nonetheless, when controlling for risk factors, there was an association between bloodstream infection and white matter injury in selected sub-populations. Infection prevention may have the potential to mitigate long-term neurologic impairment as a consequence of white matter injury, which underscores the importance of attention to infection control for these patients.

Access to specialty care in the United States safety net, already strained, is fac-ing increasing pressure with an influx of patients following the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). We surveyed 18 public hospitals and health systems across the country to describe the current state of specialty care delivery in safety-net systems. We elicited information regarding challenges, provider models, metrics of access and productivity, and strategies for improving access. Based on our findings, we propose a framework for assessing and improving specialty care access with a focus on population health planning.

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