It's back to med school for pros

Earlier in March, reports surfaced of how a Dubai-based European expatriate has been fighting a lawsuit against a local private hospital for alleged medical negligence and malpractice. Following a reportedly poor diagnosis in 2002, her breast cancer advanced to stage three in a few years and she was forced to seek treatment abroad. She has now won damages of Dh1 million, but the hospital is challenging the ruling.

Patient safety remains a burning issue in UAE hospitals and around the world. And now that it is recognised as a serious global public health issue, the health-care discipline lays emphasis on the reporting, analysis and prevention of medical errors that can often lead to adverse health-care events.

As the population rises and the UAE positions itself as a medical tourism destination, government authorities are increasingly seeking to implement best practices in patient safety. GN Focus looks at a few courses around the world that aspiring patient safety professionals can benefit from.

University of Illinois at Chicago

The Master of Science in Patient Safety course is designed to develop leaders in this area, and it delivers practical information that can be applied in the workplace and integrates activities that align directly with professions in patient safety.

Besides enhancing organisational leadership skills specific to patient safety, the course teaches how to develop strategies for proposing and implementing process improvements. Students will be required to finish a research project. The course fee is $27,000 (about Dh99,000). For younger professionals, the university offers a graduate certificate in patient safety, error science and full disclosure. This is available online for $9,000.

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

The master’s in quality and safety in health-care management is available in the only UAE and Bahrain. It has been developed in response to an increasing demand for continuing professional education for health-care professionals. Graduates will be better equipped to deliver high-quality health-care services and lead change and development within their service areas.

In the UAE, the college’s MSc programmes are accredited by the Commission for Academic Accreditation on behalf of the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. They are also internationally accredited by the National University of Ireland, so graduates can travel with their qualifications.

The master’s in leadership in health professions education is offered by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RSCI) in Ireland and the UAE. It is designed for those looking to network and debate key issues with colleagues in medicine, surgery, nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy and education. The two-year fee for the RSCI master’s degrees was Dh103,000 in 2013-14.

The RSCI’s professional certificate in quality and safety in health care is designed to provide students with focused health-care quality, risk and patient safety skills and the knowledge to perform effectively in a position of leadership. It is available only in Ireland.

Armstrong Institute

The Armstrong Institute, established by Johns Hopkins Medicine in 2011, aims to increase patient safety and reduce medical errors at hospitals and medical centres around the world, including Johns Hopkins facilities. It organises workshops and certificate courses throughout the year for a broad range of health-care professionals.

Last year, it launched an online learning programme at Abu Dhabi Health Services Company facilities, where participants learnt how to identify the patient safety risks posed by a complex health-care system, and how to integrate safety principles into their day-to-day activities.

Other programmes available at the institute include the Online Patient Safety Certificate, which delivers core concepts in patient safety to health-care professionals. The interactive programme teaches participants about patient safety culture, patient-centred care, safe design principles, interdisciplinary teamwork and communication, and sustaining change.

Students are also introduced to tools and strategies for identifying and mitigating hazards. Standard participants are charged $495 plus additional costs for continuing medical education credits if required.

In May and October this year, the institute will offer a four-day patient safety certificate programme at its Baltimore campus. Designed for practitioners developing their skills as unit- or clinic-level patient safety leaders, the course prepares them to lead efforts to continuously learn from and improve patient safety and quality care, to promote a culture of safety, to apply system-based approaches to identify and reduce hazards, and to promote the application of evidence-based practices that improve patient outcomes. The registration fee is $2,995.

The institute offers several other programmes and information is available at Hopkinsmedicine.org.

Imperial College London

The master’s in quality and safety in health care is a part-time two-year programme designed for health-care professionals with experience. The next intake is in October and the degree aims to provide academic training, practical experience, an introduction to research methods and the opportunity for intellectual development.

Tuition fees for 2013-14 for UK and EU students was £4,500 (about Dh27,500) a year (£9,000 for the two-year programme) and £14,250 a year (total £28,500) for non-EU students.

University of South Australia

A new e-learning course in patient safety launched last year is designed for professionals at any stage of their career. It particularly stresses the importance of clinical handover, defined as the “transfer of professional responsibility and accountability for some or all aspects of care for a patient or group of patients, to another person or professional group in a temporary or permanent basis.” Its launch follows research by WHO identifying poor clinical handovers as one of the top five patient safety problems.

For now the course is available to health services in Australia and New Zealand.