Research and Education Program of the Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice

The Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) is recognized as a world leader in developing knowledge and technology to safeguard patients. It is a premier convener of patient safety experts and includes educators, policy makers, and investigators; in addition, it has an extensive tract record of recognition for making substantial original contributions to advancing state-of-the-art, safer healthcare. Areas of Excellence include medication safety and reengineering healthcare delivery using and studying advanced methods and health information technology (HIT) tools, all of which aim to enhance a culture of patient safety.

The Center has evolved from a government-funded Center of Excellence in 2004 with a primary focus on medication errors and patient safety research to today’s broader mission of evaluating advanced patient safety tools and concepts intended to reduce medical error and improve healthcare quality. The Center’s investigators carry out pioneering research to examine the scope and magnitude of patient safety problems and to evaluate interventions, systems, education, and public policy – all with the goal of creating new knowledge and improving patient safety in a full range of settings, from the hospital to the community.

The Center offers a unique learning experience for researchers seeking to expand their knowledge and skill set for initiating safer and higher quality care. To date, the Center has provided training opportunities for more than 50 participants from the US and from over 20 countries worldwide. The curriculum covers the topics described below; however, participants may define an individualized area of interest under the supervision of a program director.

Participants train with the Patient Safety and Quality leaders at the Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) and are expected to learn how quality and safety are operated, measured, and reported at the departmental, hospital, institutional, national, and international levels.

There are two tracks available: a Research Track and an Educational Track.

Research Track

The program curriculum covers the topics described below but as previously stated, participants can define an individualized area of interest. They will be expected to design and implement various research projects in an area appropriate for the fellowship and within their area of expertise. 

Areas of Expertise

  • Adverse Drug Events/Medication Errors
  • Building Measurement Systems for Quality and Safety
  • Cultural Change
  • Communication and Coordination
  • Cost Effectiveness of Risk Reducing Strategies
  • Clinical Decision Support
  • Diagnostic Errors/Improvement
  • Electronic Prescribing (CPOE)
  • Errors/Enhancements
  • Fall Prevention
  • Healthcare Patient Safety
  • Human Factors Consideration/Usability of Interfaces of IT
  • Infection Prevention
  • Informatics
  • Lack of Adequate Test Follow-Up
  • Medication Reconciliation
  • Natural Language Processing, Data Mining, and Machine Learning
  • Nursing Informatics
  • Nursing Sensitive Outcomes
  • Patient-Centered Care and Patient Experience Engagement
  • Pharmacovigilance

Education Track

This program has several didactic activities throughout the year, including faculty-led seminars, lectures, workshops, and conferences. Participants will take part in ongoing informatics and patient safety workshops and seminars led by Harvard faculty and will learn the impact of team training. In addition, they will work to develop a program suitable for their home institutions.

Through its affiliation with BWH, Mass General Brigham, and HMS, the Center offers professional and academic development opportunities, such as interdisciplinary rounds focusing on general medicine, nursing, patient safety, quality and informatics. In addition, the Program in Clinical Effectiveness (participants must apply separately for this program) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School CME courses enrich the fellowship experience.

Topics Covered

  • Quality and Safety
  • Leadership
  • Education
  • Information Technology
  • Clinical Operations
  • Diagnosis Safety and Improvement

How to Apply

Thank you for your interest in the Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice Research and Education Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. 

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and will be reviewed by Center Leadership.

Application Form coming soon!

Please submit the following items by email only.

  1. Curriculum Vitae: Be sure to include awards, honors, and publications in your CV. Please list research, work, volunteer, leadership roles, and publications.
  2. Personal statement: Please share why you are interested in the program and how it will benefit you professionally and personally and also how it will benefit your community. Include your name at the top of the page. Please limit your personal statement to two single-spaced pages.

Participants are self-supported in that they have adequate funding from their government, institution, grant, or funding agencies; they are considered peers of the faculty. Participants will get access to office space, the BWH computer network and e-mail system, and to administrative support.

Please feel free to contact Paula Goldman, MPH at 617-278-0590 or email us with any questions about the program or your application.

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