Aims: Education and research based on patient safety are considered as one of the implementing means and patient safety improvement in health systems. This study aimed to analyze the state of education and research based on patient safety in selected hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was done in selected hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2012. The study tool was World Health Organization patient safety evaluation protocol. Data collected through structured interview, documents reviewed by the researcher, and checklist completion according to the guideline. Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytic (One-sample T test and Kruskal-Wallis test) using SPSS 13.

Findings: The total mean score of the hospitals in education and research was weak based on patient safety in the basic and advanced parameters based on the guideline. In the major parameters, Farabi Hospital received the highest score and Children's Medical Center Hospitals and Imam Khomeini received the lowest score. In the advanced parameters, Farabi Hospital received the highest score and Rasool Akram and Shariati Hospitals received the lowest score. In general, all hospitals regarding statements of patients’ safety research and education parameters were lower than the gold standard.

Conclusion: All the studied hospitals regarding education and research based on patient safety parameters are in the poor condition and the identified weak points are same in the hospitals. Therefore, developing educational comprehensive programs and practical researches in the field of patient safety challenges, seems necessary.