Background: Quality improvement and patient safety (QIPS) are a global health priority. Accordingly, QIPS education in medical education became mandatory. Despite that, information about QIPS education in postgraduate training in Saudi Arabia is limited. This study aimed to explore the educational aspects of QIPS in the internal medicine residency training program at King Abdulaziz Hospital in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.
Methods: This was a qualitative study employing the constructivist grounded theory approach. The sample size was determined using the theoretical saturation point, and we utilized a purposeful sampling technique. A semi-structured interview was used for data collection and was conducted between September 6 and October 20, 2020.
Results: Twenty-two internal medicine trainee residents were required to serve the study purpose. The emerged themes were organized under awareness, education, barriers and opportunities and improvement priorities. Awareness of participants about the QIPS concept, importance, and value of education was found. The participants did not recognize specific dedicated QIPS education components under the structured training program. However, they recognized participation in patient safety-oriented activities but not in quality improvement activities. Consultants’ observations and written exams were perceived as the assessment tools. Barriers including time limitation and opportunities including participation in quality improvement projects were identified. Participants suggested making QIPS education mandatory under the training program as an improvement priority.
Conclusion: This study highlighted the awareness of internal medicine residents of the QIPS concept, importance, and value of QIPS education. However, we found crucial gaps related to education including lack of a dedicated QIPS component under the training program. There is a need for multicenter studies to measure the magnitude of our findings for improvement of QIPS education in residency training in Saudi Arabia. This is the first study about QIPS education in residency training in Saudi Arabia up to our best knowledge.



中文翻译：

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内科住院医师培训计划中的质量改进和患者安全教育：探索性定性研究

背景：质量改进和患者安全 (QIPS) 是全球健康优先事项。因此，医学教育中的 QIPS 教育成为强制性的。尽管如此，关于沙特阿拉伯研究生培训中的 QIPS 教育的信息是有限的。本研究旨在探讨 QIPS 在沙特阿拉伯阿卜杜勒阿齐兹国王医院内科住院医师培训计划中的教育方面。
方法：这是一项采用建构主义扎根理论方法的定性研究。样本量是使用理论饱和点确定的，我们使用了有目的的采样技术。半结构化访谈用于数据收集，于 2020 年 9 月 6 日至 10 月 20 日期间进行。
结果：需要 22 名内科实习住院医师为研究目的服务。新出现的主题是在意识、教育、障碍和机会以及改进优先事项下组织的。发现参与者对 QIPS 概念、重要性和教育价值的认识。参与者没有认识到结构化培训计划下特定的专用 QIPS 教育组件。然而，他们承认参与以患者安全为导向的活动，而不是质量改进活动。顾问的意见和笔试被视为评估工具。确定了包括时间限制在内的障碍和包括参与质量改进项目在内的机会。
结论：本研究突出了内科住院医师对 QIPS 概念、重要性和 QIPS 教育价值的认识。然而，我们发现了与教育相关的关键差距，包括培训计划下缺乏专门的 QIPS 组件。需要进行多中心研究来衡量我们的研究结果对改善沙特阿拉伯住院医师培训 QIPS 教育的重要性。这是我们最了解的关于沙特阿拉伯住院医师培训 QIPS 教育的第一项研究。