BACKGROUND Graduating medical students enter the workforce with substantial medical knowledge and experience, yet little is known about how well they are prepared for the transition to medical practice in diverse settings. We set out to compare perceptions of medical school graduates' career guidance with their perceptions of preparedness to practice as interns. We also set out to compare perce...

A critical element in the mission of health care organizations is high quality health care. Organizationally, the hospital enterprise is a hierarchical structure that has separate functional charges, lines of authority, and personnel resources for quality improvement and emergency management. The overall umbrella of safety and health care delivery can be viewed to encompass quality improvement ...

For decades, emergency planning for natural disasters, public health emergencies, workplace accidents, and other calamities has been the responsibility of government agencies on all levels and certain nongovernment organizations such as the American Red Cross. In the case of terrorism, however, entirely new approaches to emergency planning are under development for a variety of reasons. Terrori...

OBJECTIVE To determine the preparedness level of hospitals against natural disasters in Bandar Abbas, Iran. METHODS The cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted in all the 9 hospitals in Bandar Abbas, Iran, during 2012. The required data was collected using a standard checklist comprising 220 items in 10 areas. It was completed for each hospital using observations and interviews. SPSS...

BACKGROUND There are no standardized measures of hospital disaster preparedness or hospital "surge capacity." OBJECTIVES To characterize disaster preparedness among a cohort of hospitals in Los Angeles County, focusing on practice variation, plan characteristics, and surge capacity. METHODS This was a descriptive, cross-sectional survey study, followed by on-site verification. Forty-five 9-...

Hospital planning for chemical or radiological events is essential but all too often treated as a low priority. Although some other types of disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes may be more frequent, chemical and radiological emergencies have the potential for major disruptions to clinical care. Thorough planning can mitigate the impact of a chemical or radiological event. Planning needs to ...

This study assessed the direct human resource costs of a hospital's emergency preparedness planning (in 2005) by surveying participants retrospectively. Forty participants (74% of the identified population) were surveyed. Using the self-reported hourly salary of the participant, a direct salary cost was calculated for each participant. The population was 40% male and 60% female; 65% had a gradu...

Hospital flood preparedness and flood-related psychological consequences in 15 provinces in central Thailand after implementation of a national guideline.