Educational program on continuous quality improvement for pediatric residents

Abstract

Health care providers' involvement is critical for quality of care improvement. Nevertheless, most residency programs do not include this topic. The objective is to describe an educational experience on quality of care improvement for residents. The development of an improvement cycle was included in the second year syllabus of the pediatric residency program. A handbook and an online course were provided. Over 12 months, 10 proposals were designed on therapeutic and diagnostic approaches, effective communication, patient admission and logistics; they were based on sentinel events, incident reports, direct observation, and patients' complaints. Multidisciplinary working teams were formed. Health care protocols were agreed and processes were standardized. A program based on educational goals for continuous quality improvement allowed residents to acquire theoretical training and practical experience on the topic.