HLTH 5610 — Patient Safety Science
3 semester hoursGraduateLectureusually offered: fall, springOnlineOnline
Examines healthcare as a high-risk industry, where complex healthcare systems attempt to meet the complex needs of diverse patients. Introduces the many drivers that influence the design and evolution of healthcare systems, particularly patient safety, which until recently was not typically recognized as one of these design drivers. Expands on the concept of complex systems theory and introduces the concept of high reliability organizations (HROs) and how they approach safety. Examines engineering strategies from HROs by studying how healthcare systems should adapt and retrofit to create safer systems of care delivery. Compares the challenges of improving patient safety at the system vs. the microsystem level. Examines diverse error-reducing strategies.
Prerequisites
Offering history
| Term | Sections | Enrolled | Capacity | Full | Open seats/section |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2023 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 4% | 24.0 |
| Fall 2024 | 1 | 15 | 25 | 60% | 10.0 |
| Spring 2025 | 1 | 5 | 24 | 21% | 19.0 |
| Fall 2025 | 1 | 5 | 20 | 25% | 15.0 |
| Spring 2026 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 13% | 13.0 |
Snapshots from scheduled scrapes — not live seat availability. "Full" can exceed 100% when sections over-enroll.
Meeting times
Share of recent sections by weekday: M 0% · T 0% · W 0% · Th 0% · F 0%
Common patterns: async (100% of sections) — in patterns, R means Thursday
Professors
Fall
- Indira Shenoy (95% of students) · reviews
- Mary Walton (5% of students) · reviews
Spring
- Indira Shenoy (100% of students) · reviews
Percentages are each professor's average share of the season's enrolled students in recent terms.
Links
Official catalog (HLTH course descriptions) · Student reviews on RateMyHusky · All HLTH courses · Plan it at numap.app