A proposal to reduce medication errors made by newly qualified doctors by adopting the drills used for ab initio aviation training

Abstract

Recent articles in the lay and medical press have again drawn attention to the preponderance of medication errors made by inexperienced, newly qualified physicians. With medical training currently undergoing transformation, perhaps there remains an opportunity to adapt some of the drills used in aviation training, which concentrate on the provision of safety above all. Aviation and medicine share many characteristics, and the concept of crew resource management, created to understand and minimise errors in aviation, has already been adapted and transferred to some of those areas of medical practice that involve teamwork across different disciplines. This paper describes some of the drills used in early aviation training and discusses how these might be adapted and applied towards the reduction of medication errors by newly qualified doctors.