| Medical error and patient safety has become a major public concern since the publication of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report “To Err Is Human.” An estimated 44,000 to 98,000 deaths due to medical error occur each year according to studies quoted by the IOM report. If these deaths were the result of a disease, information on its epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, and treatment would immediately be incorporated into medical school curriculum. The reality is medicine still lags far behind other major industries in error prevention. This paper examines the current state of medical error curricula in all twenty osteopathic medical schools in the United States. In addition, proposed recommendations are made on how medical error education can be integrated into undergraduate medical education in order to change the current culture of safety in medicine. |
