Share your personal essay on how a patient safety event impacted your learning and growth.
The Doctors Company Foundation in partnership with the Lucian Leape Institute at the National Patient Safety Foundation presents The Doctors Company Foundation Young Physicians Patient Safety Award — an award to recognize young physicians for their deep personal insight into the significance of patient safety work.
Individuals are invited to submit essays that will be judged by NPSF. Six winners of this prestigious award will be selected and will receive $5,000 plus registration and travel expenses to the NPSF Annual Congress.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
All third-year and fourth-year medical students, and first-year residents who were in a hospital setting as of June 2011 or later.
WHAT IS REQUIRED?
In 500-1,000 words describe the most instructional patient safety event you experienced, one that resulted in a personal transformation. The essay should have an emotional impact on the reader and provide a lesson that is transferable to other medical students and medical professionals. Please explain how the event impacted your learning and growth and how the experience will help you to provide the safest care to your current and future patients. Please also include examples of how to improve any processes that led up to the patient safety event and how you will work to ensure that the changes are implemented.
Description of relevant events for the essay includes any patient safety event. A patient safety event is a process or an act of omission or commission that results in hazardous health care conditions and/or unintended harm to the patient. The event is often a consequence of a systems failure or error. Examples include medication-related errors, communications errors, health care – associated infections, medical record errors, identification errors and delays in responding to critical diagnostics.
Essays must maintain the confidentiality and integrity of the patient and location of the event. Please use fictitious names and locations in your essay.
Click here to complete the online form. The award will be presented at the NPSF Annual Congress, May 23-25, 2012, in National Harbor, MD (Washington, D.C.)
WHEN IS THE DEADLINE?
Essays are due by 5:00pm ET, Thursday, February 9, 2012. No phone or mailed submissions will be accepted.
WHERE DO I LEARN MORE?
Contact Sara Reardon at sreardon@npsf.org.
