Quality Improvement

Contacts

• Pediatric Chief Residents
• Allison H. Bartlett, MD, MS
• Brett Palama, MD

Quality Improvement (QI) Resident Education

• Intern Conference Series: GME Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Curriculum
  • Quarterly conferences led by hospital-wide quality leaders during intern year
• Pediatrics-focused QI noon conferences led by Dr. Ajanta Patel, which occur quarterly
• Application required for all UCMC QI projects: Determination of QI Status Overview
• Fundamentals of Quality Improvement and Patient Safety 101
  • Optional certificate program offered by UCMC annually for interested residents, fellows, faculty, and staff
  • Please contact the Chief Residents if you are interested in this course
• Multiple institutional opportunities are also available through UCMC Office of Clinical Effectiveness and UCMC Center for Quality and Healthcare Delivery and Science and Innovation
  • Travel Grants for Quality Improvement regional and national meetings
  • Analytics expertise for assistance with data requests.

Individual Opportunities

• Comer Children’s Hospital Quality Committee meets monthly and is open to all residents.
  • Please contact Dr. Brett Palama or the Chief Residents if you would like more information
• Individual Scholarly Projects
  • Individual QI projects are a great opportunity for residents to work within a hospital system and improve patient care.
  • Multiple opportunities are available to residents interested in creating institutional guidelines and protocols with faculty oversight.
  • Contact the Chief Residents for further information and assistance.

QI Class Project Requirement

In addition to an individual scholarly project, each class must complete a Quality Improvement Project by the completion of their residency.

• QI Class Chairs are selected by their co-residents during intern year to lead the class QI project.
• Every resident must help participate in some fashion in order to qualify for graduation.
• The class QI project will then be presented during the Department of Pediatrics Annual Research Day, The University of Chicago Quality & Safety Symposium, and/or at regional or national conferences.

QI Class Chair Roles and Responsibilities

• Champion and lead the QI class project from inception to completion throughout their three years of residency.
• Meet regularly with chief residents and Dr. Palama to update leadership on progress of project.
• Current Class QI Chairs
  • Class of 2021: Ira Kraft, MD; Yuliya Oumarbaeva, MD
  • Class of 2022: Jeff Ni, MD; Sandeep Palepu, MD; Emerald Souza, MD; Jasmine Thomas, MD
  • Class of 2023: Kellie Barsotti, MD; Stella Bivens, MD; Matthew Nathan, DO; Catherine Waymel, MD

Former Class Projects

• Class of 2020, led by Drs. Claire Hailey and Tovah Schwartz:
  • “Improving Discharge Education Using Teach-back Method”
    • Presented at The University of Chicago Quality & Safety Symposium (October 2020)
• Class of 2019, led by Dr. Rebecca Levin:
  • “A Residency Class Project to Decrease Labs in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit”
    • Presented at High Value Practice Academic Alliance 2018 and Annual Leadership Conference 2018
    • Awarded Best Residency Initiative to improve healthcare value at HVPAA2018
• Class of 2018:
  • “Improving Communication Between the Hospitalist Service and the PCPs in the Community”
    • Presented at Department of Pediatric Research Day 2018
• Class of 2017:
  • “Improving care of children admitted to the hospital with failure to thrive (FTT).”
    • Presented at Association of Pediatric Program Directors’ Annual Meeting 2017
    • Presented at Department of Pediatric Research Day 2017
• Class of 2016:
  • “Impact of pediatric resident education regarding a children’s hospital’s septic shock protocol.”
    • Presented at Pediatric Academic Societies 2016
    • Presented at Department of Pediatric Research Day 2016