OT08 - Medical Errors: The Experiences, Attitudes, and Perspectives of Incoming and Outgoing Fourth-Year Veterinary Students

Background: Medical errors impact veterinary patient safety and students can help prevent errors. Medical error research is relevant to ACVIM and there are no other studies that address the role of veterinary students in patient safety.

Objective: To assess and compare the experiences and attitudes of incoming and outgoing fourth-year veterinary students regarding medical errors, adverse events (AEs), near misses (NMs), and error disclosure.

Sample: Classes of 2021 and 2022 veterinary students (n=261).

Methods: An electronic survey was distributed to the Classes of 2021 (Class21) and 2022 (Class22) during April 2021. Response data were summarized and compared between class year groups with a Fisher’s Exact Test and Mann-Whitney U Test.

Results: Response rate was 26.8% (70/261). Most respondents (85.7%) reported being present during a medical error; and 60% reported causing a medical error. Class21 indicated lower agreement with documenting an error in the patient record and whether all errors should be disclosed. Class22 felt more distress surrounding potential errors and consequential career implications. Class21 agreed more that errors occur frequently in veterinary medicine and disagreed more that hospital staffing is adequate to ensure patient safety compared to Class22. Open responses recognized a need for communication training and identified that Class21 regarded errors actionably, whereas Class22 viewed errors more emotionally.

Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Most veterinary students will experience medical errors prior to graduation, and some appear to lack clarity around appropriate disclosure and documentation practices. Additional training on errors and disclosure may improve both patient safety and veterinary mental health.