Integrating improvement learning into a family medicine residency curriculum.

Leadership of improvement processes is a critical skill for medical professionals who are key players in achieving safer and more effective health care delivery systems. In 2002 the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) adopted core competencies for medical resident education that include facility in practice-based learning, systemsbased practice, and improvement knowledge.1 Performance improvement is a core tenet of the responsive patient-centered primary care medical home, which has emerged as the preferred model of primary care delivery.2 The Residency Review Committee (RRC) for Family Medicine also requires that residency training programs offer opportunities for residents to learn about improvement.3 The competencies are interpreted variably across residency programs, creating discrepancies in resident knowledge and competence in leading practice-based improvement.