Safety-Related Curriculum in Physiotherapy and Other Entry-Level Health Professions Education: A Scoping Review

Purpose: The purpose of this scoping review was to search the literature to identify how safety is being defined and to identify the safety frameworks, models, and guidelines that are being integrated into entry-level health professions education (HPE). Method: This scoping review was conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews. A search of Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, and ERIC was conducted for studies published in English from 2011. Results: Forty-nine studies were included, and data were organized into four categories: health profession and country; definitions of safety; frequency and types of framework/model/guidelines used; and safety concepts. Studies published in the United States within nursing were reported most frequently. Four papers reported on physiotherapy education. Fifteen studies explicitly defined safety, and the WHO Patient Safety Curriculum Guide for Medical Schools was most commonly cited. Conclusions: Multiple safety frameworks, models, and guidelines are being integrated into HPE. Although some guides have been developed with a multi-profession lens, it is challenging to determine applicability to the physiotherapy profession. There continues to be a focus of minimizing patient harm when safety is integrated into HPE; however, concepts that consider human factors are emerging.