Teaching Accountability and Responsibility to Our Residents
In his presentation on teaching accountability and responsibility to residents, Eduardo Mayorga, MD, Honorary Chief of Ophthalmology, Italian Hospital, Buenos Aires, stated that there is no doubt that residents should receive training about how to prevent unintended harm. He explained that this can be considered under three headings: what to teach, how to teach, and how to assess.
- What to teach: the patient safety curriculum. The WHO website provides material on this curriculum, which can be incorporated into daily practice. It is necessary to consider whether these generic curricula can be adapted to ophthalmology or whether a specific curriculum needs to be developed.
- How to teach: Are ophthalmology teachers focusing on patient safety when training residents or do they need training themselves? Are they ready to be role models for their residents in practicing patient safety? Are ophthalmologists practicing safety or speed when performing surgery? Are they training their residents to reduce medical errors and complications? Is there a culture of analyzing complications and taking complications seriously, or do residents treat complications frivolously and joke about them?
- How to assess: Will a carrot-and-stick model work? Should questions on patient safety be included in all resident assessments?
Dr. Mayorga’s recommendations include the following:
- Developing an ophthalmology-focused online patient safety course
- Training and assessing residents on patient safety
- Creating a culture of patient safety during resident training and making every day “patient safety day”