title: Review article: the influence of psychology and human factors on education in anesthesiology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We look at the changing nature of medical education in the developed world with particular reference to those areas of the new curriculum frameworks which have introduced topics from the psychosocial realm.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Research in the branch of psychology dealing with human factors has developed a useful body of working knowledge which applies to other industries where humans interact with the complex systems in which they function. Some findings are already being applied to facets of anesthesia performance, including situation awareness, effective teamwork, countermeasures against active errors and latent pathogens, and limitations of human performance. However, existing lessons and practices from industrial or military research may not translate directly into effective strategies for anesthesiologists. Collaborative studies between psychologists and clinicians should continue in order to provide the anesthetic curriculum with an effective body of knowledge for each role of the anesthesiologist. Although individual anesthesiologists have made important contributions in this field, such material has not been formally incorporated into the curricula serving anesthesiologists in the developed world.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a gap between the human factors psychologists now know and the human factors anesthesiologists need to know. As that gap closes, anesthesiologists may come to think more like human factor psychologists as well as biomedical scientists.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthetics, Victoria Infirmary, Langside Glasgow, G42 9TY, UK. ronnie.glavin@nhs.net
authors.forename: Ronnie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Glavin
authors.forename: Rhona
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Flin
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia / Q000379:methods; D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000193:education*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003479:Curriculum; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D011584:Psychology / Q000193:education*