At Providence St. Vincent, we know that physicians of the future must actively shape our healthcare system to deliver better care and better outcomes, all at a lower cost. Quality improvement requires unique skills that can't be taught in a lecture -- project management, team leadership, persistence, and passion. We support each resident to lead a project, following a structured process to implement, test, and measure change.
Our innovative three-year curriculum has been presented at the Annual Program Directors in Internal Medicine meeting with an accompanying publication in Academic Internal Medicine Insight.
Because making real system level changes and measuring their effects takes time, our curriculum is spread over the three years of residency. Two-week QI rotations are built into both the PGY-1 and PGY-2 years, with several half-days during the PGY-3 year as well. This protected time plus experienced mentors and access to our own data analyst helps residents produce and measure meaningful healthcare improvement.
Mentorship
Didactics and Reading
2 weeks
Project selection
2 weeks
Implementation4 half-days
Results
Lifelong Quality Improvement
Presentation and Writing
Medical school teaches the first two “buckets” of medicine:
pathophysiology and treatment of disease. We teach our residents the third
bucket: quality improvement. We create systems to do what works, every
time, for every patient.
“I love the moment when I see the light shining in their eyes. Their
face gets animated as they talk about where the project could go, and
I know we've found their passion.”
Shelley Sanders, M.D., FACP | Director of Quality Improvement Curriculum
and Fellow, Innovation Advisors Program, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Innovation
“This sort of analysis & integration of standardized care pathways
is the future of medicine." – commenting on resident Justin
Moyer’s Chest CT Screening project
John R Handy, Jr, MD, HonD | Director, Providence Thoracic Surgery Program
“I got A LOT out of this project. As someone who is going into hospitalist
medicine, quality improvement is becoming a more integral part of the
job and the expectation is that hospitalist will lead the way. I feel
well equipped and motivated to take this on.
Not to mention, this project was a great selling point at job interviews!
Gabe Hyder, M.D. | Hospitalist
“In writing the background, protocol and methods portion of my QI
project I learned to setup a project from scratch and attempt to implement
it. I really learned what QI was when the project went into motion and
of course, didn't go as planned….I have to say, when starting residency
I was not fond of a mandatory QI elective because I couldn't see myself
doing QI in the future, but am so glad to have gone through the process
and when interviewing was totally thinking about what QI projects could
be done when I get out into practice.
Skye Robins, M.D.
