Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NYCreating a Core Faculty in Quality and Safety

Background: We aimed to create an educated and enthusiastic core faculty of senior and resident physicians and administrators who would take ownership of the curriculum in quality and safety for all residents. Most physician faculty across all disciplines have not been engaged in and have had little or no formal training concerning the process of quality and safety. With new ACGME requirements, residents need to be actively involved in quality and safety activities. We planned to establish a curriculum in quality and safety for all postgraduate trainees that is highly valued by the residents and is sustained by a dedicated faculty skilled in the science of quality and safety. Method: We identified core faculty by surveying residents and faculty for interest in developing a quality and safety program. The core faculty held monthly meetings to discuss quality and safety issues with residents and create a learning curriculum. Residents attended a house staff quality council meeting. The core group held monthly teleconferences with NI III colleagues, establishing relationships and common ground. Results: We have developed a lecture series and are in the process of executing it. Cultural obstacles have become apparent to both core faculty and residents. Participants9 collaboration fostered courage, creativity, and resident empowerment, and the teleconferences resulted in a collaborative research project with an outside partner. We recognized the tension concerning securing time to teach and develop as a faculty, and the implementation of an electronic health record program was an additional time concern. The project is still ongoing and long-term effects are not yet discernible. Conclusions: The outcome of the program remains to be seen, but we have found the process invaluable. Our experience also demonstrated the need to collaborate among residency programs for common curricular goals and the importance of administrative support.