Fostering the understanding of patient safety among medical and health sciences students in an environment of interprofessional education: An interventional study

Abstract

Abstract Background Interprofessional education (IPE) plays an elementary role in improving healthcare outcomes by shared understanding and by reducing errors and adverse events. Unfortunately, most healthcare professionals have not received training for patient safety (PS) in an interprofessional setting, which can meet the needs of societal medical needs. This study aimed to foster the understanding of senior medical and health sciences students about PS at the University of Sharjah in UAE. Methods Using a stratified random sampling technique, we recruited students from College of Medicine (CoM), College of Pharmacy (CoP), College of Dental Medicine (CDM), and College of Health Sciences (CHS) of UoS. The online synchronous real-time workshop included interactive resource sessions, breakout room discussions using real clinical cases, and pre-post surveys using a questionnaire with three domains of PS; medical professionalism, leadership in healthcare, and precision medicine. Results A total of 248 students and 20 facilitators participated in the workshop. CoM had the highest representation (47.5%), followed by CoP (36.5%), CHS (13.3%), and CDM (2.7%). There was a statistically improved understanding in all domains of PS across all colleges (p < 0.001). Notably, students in years four and five from CoM and CoP showed significant improvement in their perceptions than other colleges (p < 0.001). The participants encountered challenges of weak internet connections, software issues, technical failures, and power outages during the workshop. Conclusion This study highlights a positive impact of an IPE-based interventional workshop on the students' understanding and insights of PS. This underscores the paramount role of IPE in improving perceptions and approaches towards PS in the context of healthcare education.