Building Resident Quality Improvement Knowledge and Engagement Through a Longitudinal, Mentored, and Experiential Learning-Based Quality Improvement Curriculum

Introduction: Quality improvement (QI) training is an essential component of resident medical education and a part of the ACGME core competencies. We present our residency's evidence-based QI curriculum, which outlines key components identified in the literature for successful QI education.

Methods: Our curriculum included a mandatory five-part longitudinal educational series during ambulatory education sessions for second-year residents. Modeled after the Institute for Healthcare Improvement model for improvement and taught by a chief resident, our curriculum introduced residents to key QI concepts through case-based, just-in-time didactics and applied experiential learning via concurrent resident-led longitudinal QI projects. Residents received structured, multilayer mentorship from a faculty mentor in their field of interest and the chief resident of quality and patient safety. Their work-in-progress projects were presented to faculty QI experts and institutional leadership for additional feedback and mentorship.

Results: Since 2016, a total of 234 internal medicine residents have completed our QI curriculum and developed 67 QI projects, which have been presented at various local, regional, and national conferences. In the 2 most recent academic years, Quality Improvement Knowledge Application Tool Revised (QIKAT-R) scores significantly increased from 4.6 precurriculum to 6.3 postcurriculum (p < .001).

Discussion: A longitudinal, experiential, and mentored QI curriculum teaches residents QI skill sets through incorporating mechanisms associated with successful educational initiatives and adult learning theory. Our QIKAT-R results and project output show that our curriculum is associated with improved trainee QI knowledge and systems-level improvements.