Psychological safety in health professions education: insights and strategies from a global community of practice
Open accessAbstract
Psychological safety is the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up, sharing ideas, raising concerns, or making mistakes. There are various threats to psychological safety in health professions education (HPE). This commentary applies Clark’s model of psychological safety (Inclusion Safety, Learner Safety, Contributor Safety, Challenger Safety) to five different HPE settings (classroom instructions, clinical training, simulation-based training, online instructions, interprofessional education). Setting-specific threats and strategies for enhancing psychological safety are discussed.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Psychologically safe environments improve learning outcomes and enhance student well-being.
“Dong et al. [68] found that psychologically safe environments not only improve learning outcomes but also enhance student well-being, reinforcing the importance of inclusive and supportive formative assessment strategies in medical education.”
From Formative assessment and feedback in medical education: A practical guide: AMEE Guide No. 189 (2026) · cites this paper as [68]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF PERSONAL ENGAGEMENT AND DISENGAGEMENT AT WORK.
Kahn, W. A. (1990) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.2307/256287 · Cited by 10,975 · see citing works
Critical Inquiry in a Text-Based Environment: Computer Conferencing in Higher Education
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (1999) · The Internet and Higher Education · doi:10.1016/s1096-7516(00)00016-6 · Cited by 6,619 · see citing works
Psychological Safety: The History, Renaissance, and Future of an Interpersonal Construct
Edmondson, A. C., & Lei, Z. (2014) · Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior · doi:10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-031413-091305 · Cited by 2,577 · see citing works
A critical review of simulation‐based medical education research: 2003–2009
McGaghie, W. C., Issenberg, S. B., Petrusa, E. R., & Scalese, R. J. (2010) · Medical Education · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2009.03547.x · Cited by 1,733 · see citing works
Psychological safety: a systematic review of the literature
Newman, A., Donohue, R., & Eva, N. (2017) · Human Resource Management Review · doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2017.01.001 · Cited by 1,408 · see citing works
Rudolph, J. W., Simon, R., Dufresne, R. L., & Raemer, D. B. (2006) · Simulation in Healthcare The Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare · doi:10.1097/01266021-200600110-00006 · Cited by 1,101 · see citing works
(2018) · Cited by 968 · see citing works
Establishing a Safe Container for Learning in Simulation
Rudolph, J. W., Raemer, D. B., & Simon, R. (2014) · Simulation in Healthcare The Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare · doi:10.1097/sih.0000000000000047 · Cited by 933 · see citing works
SBAR: A Shared Mental Model for Improving Communication Between Clinicians
Haig, K. M., Sutton, S., & Whittington, J. (2006) · The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety · doi:10.1016/s1553-7250(06)32022-3 · Cited by 749 · see citing works
A systematic literature review on synchronous hybrid learning: gaps identified
Raes, A., Detienne, L., Windey, I., & Depaepe, F. (2019) · Learning Environments Research · doi:10.1007/s10984-019-09303-z · Cited by 604 · see citing works
The Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE) Standards of Best Practice (SOBP)
Lewis, K. L., Bohnert, C. A., Gammon, W. L., Hölzer, H., Lyman, L., Smith, C., Thompson, T. M., Wallace, A., & Gliva-McConvey, G. (2017) · Advances in Simulation · doi:10.1186/s41077-017-0043-4 · Cited by 580 · see citing works
The integrated curriculum in medical education: AMEE Guide No. 96
Brauer, D. G., & Ferguson, K. J. (2014) · Medical Teacher · doi:10.3109/0142159x.2014.970998 · Cited by 575 · see citing works
Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best PracticeTM Prebriefing: Preparation and Briefing
McDermott, D. S., Ludlow, J., Horsley, E., & Meakim, C. H. (2021) · Clinical Simulation in Nursing · doi:10.1016/j.ecns.2021.08.008 · Cited by 354 · see citing works
Managing psychological safety in debriefings: a dynamic balancing act
Kolbe, M., Eppich, W., Rudolph, J. W., Meguerdichian, M. J., Catena, H., Cripps, A., Grant, V. J., & Cheng, A. (2019) · BMJ Simulation & Technology Enhanced Learning · doi:10.1136/bmjstel-2019-000470 · Cited by 319 · see citing works
‘The Diamond’: a structure for simulation debrief
Jaye, P., Thomas, L., & Reedy, G. B. (2015) · The Clinical Teacher · doi:10.1111/tct.12300 · Cited by 298 · see citing works
Reimschisel, T. E., Herring, A. L., Huang, J. C., & Minor, T. J. (2017) · Medical Teacher · doi:10.1080/0142159x.2017.1340636 · Cited by 289 · see citing works
O’Donovan, R., & McAuliffe, E. (2020) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/s12913-020-4931-2 · Cited by 259 · see citing works
Competency-based curriculum development on medical education: an introduction.
McGaghie, W. C., Miller, G. E., Sajid, A., & Telder, T. V. (1978) · PubMed · Cited by 253 · see citing works
Grailey, K., Murray, E., Reader, T. W., & Brett, S. J. (2021) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/s12913-021-06740-6 · Cited by 249 · see citing works
The PEARLS Healthcare Debriefing Tool
Bajaj, K., Meguerdichian, M. J., Thoma, B., et al. (2017) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000002035 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Closed-Loop Communication Improves Task Completion in Pediatric Trauma Resuscitation
El-Shafy, I. A., Delgado, J. A., Akerman, M. B., Bullaro, F. M., Christopherson, N. A. M., & Prince, J. M. (2017) · Journal of surgical education · doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2017.06.025 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Dietl, J. E., Derksen, C., Keller, F. M., & Lippke, S. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1164288 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
O’Donovan, R., & McAuliffe, É. (2020) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/s12913-020-05646-z · Cited by 134 · see citing works
MacNeill, H., Masters, K., Nemethy, K., & Correia, R. (2023) · Medical Teacher · doi:10.1080/0142159x.2023.2197135 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Teshome, B. G., Desai, M. M., Gross, C. P., Hill, K. A., Li, F., Samuels, E. A., Wong, A. H.-W., Xu, Y., & Boatright, D. B. (2022) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj-2021-065984 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Fostering a just culture in healthcare organizations: experiences in practice
van Baarle, E., Hartman, L. A., Rooijakkers, S., Wallenburg, I., Weenink, J.-W., Bal, R. A., & Widdershoven, G. A. M. (2022) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/s12913-022-08418-z · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Psychological safety in simulation: Perspectives of nursing students and faculty
Turner, S., Harder, N., Martin, D., & Gillman, L. M. (2023) · Nurse Education Today · doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2023.105712 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Edmondson, A. C., & Harvey, J. (2017) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/9781786354495 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Increasing Diversity in the Health Professions: Reflections on Student Pipeline Programs.
Bouye, K. E., McCleary, K. J., & Williams, K. B. (2016) · PubMed · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Inclusion and diversity within medical education: a focus group study of students’ experiences
Verbree, A., Isik, U., Janssen, J. J. H. M., & Dilaver, G. (2023) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/s12909-023-04036-3 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
The webcam and student engagement in synchronous online learning: visually or verbally?
Händel, M., Bedenlier, S., Kopp, B., Gläser‐Zikuda, M., Kammerl, R., & Ziegler, A. (2022) · Education and Information Technologies · doi:10.1007/s10639-022-11050-3 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Cornell, P. T., Townsend‐Gervis, M., Vardaman, J. M., et al. (2014) · JONA The Journal of Nursing Administration · doi:10.1097/nna.0000000000000045 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Interprofessional professionalism: Linking professionalism and interprofessional care
Holtman, M. C., Frost, J. S., Hammer, D. P., et al. (2011) · Journal of Interprofessional Care · doi:10.3109/13561820.2011.588350 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Tips for medical educators on how to conduct effective online teaching in times of social distancing
Dong, C., Lee, D. W.-C., & Aw, D. C. (2020) · Proceedings of Singapore Healthcare · doi:10.1177/2010105820943907 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Self-citationImproving Graduate Medical Education Through Faculty Empowerment Instead of Detailed Guidelines
van Loon, K. A., & Scheele, F. (2020) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000003386 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
McLaughlin, R. J., O'Brien, C. W., Weinstein, M., et al. (2019) · PubMed · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Latessa, R. A., Galvin, S. L., Swendiman, R. A., Onyango, J., Ostrach, B. M. M., Edmondson, A. C., Davis, S., & Hirsh, D. A. (2023) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/s12909-023-04622-5 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
How we put into practice the principles of embedding medical students into healthcare teams
Jacobs, J. L., & Samarasekera, D. D. (2012) · Medical Teacher · doi:10.3109/0142159x.2012.731097 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Transitions in health professions education?
Rees, C. E. (2019) · Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology · doi:10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2019.07.488 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- [3]Dweck CS. Mindset: the new psychology of success. Ballantine Book, pp. 1–320. (2007). Available at: https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322 (Accessed Dec 17, 2021).
- [22]Dong C Ban N Kachur E Wong LY. Preserving psychological safety to enhance Interprofessional team performance in healthcare. In: SingHealth Duke-NUS education conference, Singapore. (2022).
- [24]Kachur E Dong C Wong LY Kao SP. Psychological safety in Formative and Summative OSCEs. In: Ottawa Conference. (2020).
- Authors
- Dong, C., Altshuler, L., Ban, N., Wong, L. Y., Mohammed, F. E. A., Tang, C. T., & Kachur, E.
- Affiliations
- Sengkang General Hospital (SG)
- New York University (US)
- Aichi Medical University (JP)
- Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (SG)
- University of Khartoum (SD)
- Corresponding author
- Dong, Chaoyan
- Venue
- Frontiers in Medicine
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2025-01-24
- Volume
- 11
- Pages
- 1508992-1508992
- ISSN
- 2296-858X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC11802526
- OpenAlex
- W4406809103
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 32 · 2025: 9
- FWCI
- 37.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Emergency Medical Services › Patient Safety and Medication Errors
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Simulation-Based Education in Healthcare
- Keywords
- psychological safety, health professions education, student safety, speaking up, simulation-based training, clinical teaching, online instruction, interprofessional education, communities of practice
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
