Quality and safety remain a major focus of leaders in health care, and anesthesiologists have played a leadership role in improving patient safety in the perioperative setting.1 Yet anesthesia-related causes of preventable injuries and errors such as from medication errors continue to occur even after 30 years of applied research.2 Despite increasing interest in patient safety research among anesthesia providers, there is currently no formal instruction for trainees or faculty in the epidemiology and research methods for assessing and preventing patient harm.
There is a need for formal training in patient safety research methods and approaches. Anesthesia trainees may participate in a quality improvement project as required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), yet there is no requirement for formal training in research methods/frameworks or the epidemiological tools needed to conduct meaningful patient safety research and design interventions that can make care safer.
Training in...