Table 1.

Characteristics of included studies

Studies	Study design	Implementation year	School/country	Grade/Number of students	Instructor	Course integrated into	Duration/ frequency	Content								Teaching format
								A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
Halbach 2005	Pre/post survey	2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03	New York Medical College (USA)	3/572	Standardized patients; Family physicians; Behavioral medicine faculty	Family medicine clerkship	4 hours/1	×		×		×				×	×	×					×
Madigosky 2006	Pre/post survey	2003-2004	University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine (USA)	2/92	Volunteer faculty; Ethicists; Medical education experts	Introduction to patient care course	10.5 hours/NR	×	×	×				×	×	×		×		×	×
Moskowitz 2007	Pre/post survey	2005	Jefferson Medical College (USA)	3/229	Staff in medical education and health care; Clinical faculty in different specialties; High-level directors from four institutes#	Plenary session and workshops	1 day	×	×		×					×			×
Anderson 2009	Control study Pre/post survey	NR	University of Leicester (UK)	NR/199	Medical education experts	First-aid care course	1 day/9					×		×	×	×	×	×		×		×
Patey 2009	Pre survey	2004.9-2005.6	Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (UK)	4/110	Anesthetists, physician; industrial psychologist;Clinical psychologist	Core curriculum	5 hours/11	×	×	×			×			×		×		×	×
Paxton 2009	Pre/post survey	2005.12-2006.12	Henry Ford Hospital (USA)	2+3+4/2+33+1	Surgical residents; Attending staff; Teaching assistants	Clinical rotation	1.5 hours/NR	×	×	×	×		×	×		×				×
Gunderson 2009	Pre/post survey	2006 spring	University of Illinois at Chicago (USA)	NR/18	Course directors; Observing faculty; Risk-management experts	Optional courses	30 hours/NR					×	×	×		×	×	×		×	×		×
Total				NR/1256				5	4	4	2	3	3	4	2	7	3	5	1	5	3	1	2

NR: Not Report;

# high-level executives from National Patient Safety Agency(NPSA), American Association for the Improvement of Clinical Service, Quality and Safety Research Group, Johns Hopkins University and the dean of the medical school

Content: A. medical error, including disclosure/communication and reporting system; B. human factors engineering; C. systems theory/knowledge; D. patient safety regulations/legislation; E. teamwork principles; F. system approach and solutions; G. quality improvement methods, including root cause analysis; H. others

Teaching formats: a. interactive lectures/discussion; b. readings; c. case-based learning/discussion; d. seminars; e. small-group discussion; f. role-play; g. interdisciplinary team-working; h. simulation with a standardized patient