Firstly, I would first like to thank the Doctors Company Foundation & the MedStar Health Institute for Quality & Safety for the opportunity to participate in this year’s Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety. As I await the beginning of the Telluride experience, I cannot help but feel a tremendous amount of excitement about the immersive learning that will be happening in the coming days. There is no mistaking the importance of patient safety. As a 3rd year medical student on the inpatient wards, I quickly became very cognizant of how challenging issues surrounding patient safety and preventable harm can be in an environment as chaotic as an academic medical center. Because of this, I always made a conscious effort to advocate for my patients, especially those who I felt were not as knowledgeable on the inner workings of our deeply complex healthcare system. Those interactions with patients were the ones that brought me the most satisfaction as a medical student. I feel extremely privileged to have been selected to participate in this year’s California cohort. The opportunity to learn from brilliant faculty that have played an integral role in global patient safety is exactly what attracted me to apply to this amazing program. I’m also excited about the opportunity to interact and network with other health professional students from across the country who will become my colleagues in the very near future. At the conclusion of these four days, I hope to gain newfound perspectives on patient safety and become equipped with the necessary tools to one day become a change agent in the quest for a safer and more equitable healthcare system.
