Learning patient safety in Telluride

It's such a privilege to return as a faculty member to the Telluride Patient Safety Student and Resident Physician Summer Camps, organized by Dr. David Mayer, vice president of quality and safety at MedStar Health. This is a lovely opportunity to meet a few dozen residents and medical students who compete to attend an intensive seminar or quality, safety, transparency, disclosure, and other topics that are unrepresented in medical school and residency training.  Here's a note, for example, from Julia Meade, who attended last week's residents' program, and is about to start her fellowship:

I received 1 hour of training on patient safety as a medical student and 2 hours as a resident physician. During my time in Telluride, I learned more on how to keep you and your loved ones safe than I have in 7 years of medical training.

The newly arrived medical students have already jumped right into the program.  Here's an initial blog post by Christine Beeson.  Some excerpts:

I am surprised at how important this little shindig is.  I knew many students applied, but I didn’t realize how carefully selected we all were. Before we had a chance to get puffed up from being flattered by that bit of information, we were reminded of the crippling truth of why we are gathered here---many students and faculty have been directly affected by a negative patient outcome, be it fatal or nearly fatal.  I was taken aback by the support and interest and frank seriousness of the whole matter.

I am so looking forward to the next few days. I can already foresee the dedication the students, faculty, and families with personal stories have. I am so excited to learn and soak up the many different techniques and tools with which we students can equip ourselves to tackle this hugely devastating and largely ignored/accepted tragedy. Wish us luck as we go on this journey of personal and professional growth!