What is the key to patient safety? Janice Palaganas, PhD, RN, NP, FSSH, ANEF, FAAN has thought a lot about this question and has discussed the topic regularly with Jeffrey B. Cooper, PhD, Founder of the Center for Medical Simulation (CMS).

“Every time we have this conversation; it comes down to being present and, in the moment,” says Dr. Palaganas. “I think the more and more we can get people to reflect in practice, they can get to that point where they can zoom out of whatever conflict is going on and being present in the situation. And this is the key to patient safety.”

Dr. Palaganas is the Associate Director of Health Professions Education at MGH Institute of Health Professions and Principal Faculty at CMS. “I’m most passionate about teaching people how to learn from themselves and developing courses that create reflection,” says Dr. Palaganas.

The Feedback Course is a prime example of a course that promotes reflection in its participants. Developed by Dr. Palaganas and the CMS Team, The Feedback Course was first launched in spring 2020. She describes the course as, “A journey in understanding how [individuals] feel about receiving feedback and leveraging that to give better feedback.”

The spring session was met with glowing reviews and Dr. Palaganas notes that individuals were delighted by the “powerful, transformational exercises.”

One participant explained the true value of the course: “We all think we’re good at delivering and receiving feedback until the moment it happens. After my time in this session, I feel more confident, armed with a diverse set of tools to navigate the constantly varied and often times escalated world of management.”

The Feedback Course teaches its participants to “feel confident with the uncertainty of feedback” over the course of six online sessions. The next session will launch on March 8, 2021.

For individuals unable to commit to the six-session course, a two hour feedback webinar, Up Your Feedback Game, will be offered on December 2, 2020.

Creating a culture of feedback can seem intimidating but CMS showcases the benefits of working and learning in such an environment. Dr. Palaganas explains how CMS “walks its talk”:

“I think our faculty and our training exude the humanity and human values that people often overlook and are foundational to being successful in teaching; it’s contagious once you are around it in our courses. You see the modeling, you watch how we communicate with each other and we ask you to do  the same and you get to experience what a feedback culture can feel like and learners can see how to realistically bring it back to their organization.”

For more information about Up Your Feedback Game, please visit: https://harvardmedsim.org/event/weekly-webinars-up-your-feedback-game-dec-02-2020/

For more information about The Feedback Course, please visit: https://harvardmedsim.org/course/the-feedback-course/