Table 1 Case examples of student involvement in prevention of medical error.

No	Description of event	Contributing factors or problems	Role of medical student	Lessons learned
1	Non‐sterile prepped limb noticed before incision	Poor team communicationAssumptions of OR staff responsibilitiesOR culture and hierarchy limiting communicationDaily variation of OR team members	Observations of procedures and deviations from the norm prompted the student to question the omission of sterile technique	Don't assume anything; keep a suspect eye when things do not look correctErr on the side of caution, err in favor of the patientDon't be afraid to speak up, even if you are wrongLearn proper sterile techniques
2	Drugs ordered but not administered	Drug order system requires transcription from hand written order to computer based MARNo formal practice of confirming that ordered drugs are administered	Drug administration was not confirmed	Students are in a position to follow the practice of checking orders are carried out and medications administered
3	DNR order not followed	No system for alerting DNR orders to teamStudent hesitant to communicate knowledge of DNR order	Communicated DNR order to team	Students encouraged to communicate with team members when there are questions about proper procedures
4	Infection exposure	Language barrierEmergency settingComplete history not taken	Student initiated translator consultObtained history suggestive of tuberculosisInitiated respiratory precautions	Effective communication is vital in patient safetyWhen language barriers arise, translators must be used to ensure safe patient care

OR, operating room; DNR, do not resuscitate; MAR, medication administration record.