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patient safety and healthcare quality

A program that focuses on the application of transformative mechanisms and evidence-based protocols to reduce preventable patient harm and improve clinical outcomes. Includes instruction in healthcare quality, patient safety, research methods, program evaluation, epidemiology, legal and regulatory compliance, systems thinking, human factors engineering, and risk management.

Types of Degrees patient safety and healthcare quality Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing patient safety and healthcare quality have the option of earning degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Master’s Degree	121

What patient safety and healthcare quality Majors Need to Know

Studies in patient safety and healthcare quality build a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that patient safety and healthcare quality graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in patient safety and healthcare quality emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• English Language — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Law and Government — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Administration and Management — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set built by a patient safety and healthcare quality program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Writing — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.

Abilities

Innate abilities most relevant to patient safety and healthcare quality careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Expression — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, patient safety and healthcare quality graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Getting Information	4.5 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.3 / 7
Working with Computers	4.3 / 7
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards	4.2 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.2 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.2 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.2 / 7
Communicating with People Outside the Organization	4.2 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.1 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.1 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by patient safety and healthcare quality professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	✓
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	✓
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Word processing software	Word processing software	—
Database software	Data base user interface and query software	—
Geographic information system GIS software	Geographic information system	—
Microsoft SharePoint	Document management software	—
Email software	Electronic mail software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for patient safety and healthcare quality graduates include:

• Physical Medicine Teacher
• Educational Therapy Teacher
• Toxicology Teacher
• Virology Teacher
• Neurology Teacher
• Health and Safety Instructor
• Gastroenterology Professor
• Hospital Aides and Assistants Teacher
• Chiropractic Teacher
• Professor
• Public Health Professor
• Recreation Therapy Teacher
• Histology Teacher
• Public Health Teacher
• Manual Arts Therapy Teacher

What Can You Do With a patient safety and healthcare quality Degree?

Graduates with a degree in patient safety and healthcare quality commonly enter the following occupations:

Occupation	Job Growth	Median Salary	25th–75th Pctile
Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary	10.7%	$46,663	$40,304–$53,022

^{Job-growth = projected employment change for the parent occupation. Source: ONET / BLS Employment Projections.*}

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to patient safety and healthcare quality graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Bachelor’s degree	43.9%
Master’s degree	15.5%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	8.7%
Doctoral degree	6.7%
High school diploma or equivalent	6.1%
Post-doctoral training	5.8%
Some college courses	4.7%
Postsecondary certificate	4.4%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	3.0%
First professional degree	0.8%
Less than a high school diploma	0.3%
Post-master’s certificate	0.2%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in patient safety and healthcare quality?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 74.4% of patient safety and healthcare quality degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	90	74.4%
Men	31	25.6%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of patient safety and healthcare quality graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	80	66.1%
Asian	10	8.3%
Hispanic or Latino	3	2.5%
Black or African American	19	15.7%
Two or More Races	2	1.7%
Race Unknown	6	5.0%
International Students	1	0.8%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do patient safety and healthcare quality Graduates Earn?

Federal data tracks median earnings of patient safety and healthcare quality graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. These numbers tend to grow steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$50,939
4 years	$60,432
5 years	$70,561

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $70,561 — roughly 39% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online patient safety and healthcare quality Programs

Online study is reported by IPEDS for patient safety and healthcare quality. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Master’s	1	1

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in patient safety and healthcare quality Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, patient safety and healthcare quality graduates earn a median of $60,432 four years after completion — roughly 59% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Public Health	41,086
Public Health, General	25,004
Pharmacy	12,167
Public Health Education and Promotion	3,785
Public Health, Other	2,803
Health Services Administration	2,629
Community Health and Preventive Medicine	2,571
Environmental Health	1,269
Behavioral Aspects of Health	623
Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene	313
Health/Medical Physics	288
Maternal and Child Health	180

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.