Pigera M, et al. Quality improvement: How can we improve patients' care? Student British Medical Journal. 2008 Jun;(16):228-229.
A group of health professions students from seven countries participated in the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Health Care, held April 2008 in Paris. Each day the students met to reflect on key topics discussed in the sessions they attended. This article provides a summary of some take-home lessons on topics such as improvement methodologies, effective teamwork and communication, and involving students early in quality improvement.
Davidoff F. Focus on performance: The 21st century revolution in medical education. Mens Sana Monographs. Epub ahead of print; December 2007.
Everyone involved in health care will need to understand that the experiential learning involved in improving their work is as much part of their job as doing that work. Sophisticated practice-based, performance-oriented learning programs will therefore be increasingly needed if medicine is to continue meeting one of its most fundamental professional obligations — namely, unceasing movement toward new levels of performance.
Fischer MA, Mazor KM, Baril J, Alper E, DeMarco D, Pugnaire M. Learning from mistakes: Factors that influence how students and residents learn from medical errors. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2006 May;21(5):419-423.
This study interviewed medical students and residents in an academic medical center, and categorized the factors that influenced their learning from errors. The authors concluded that facilities could help by addressing variability in faculty response and by disseminating clear, accessible algorithms to guide behavior when errors occur. The survey also revealed the need for a teaching and learning focus on emotionally charged situations, learning from errors and near misses, and a balance between individual and systems responsibility.
Griner PF. Leadership strategies of medical school deans to promote quality and safety. Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. 2007 Feb;33(2):63-72.
In April 2003, an informal collaborative of medical schools was convened by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to achieve learning objectives for medical students for the improvement of care. The deans of the 10 founding schools were interviewed in 2004 regarding their strategies to achieve this goal. The deans felt that their work in recruiting leaders in the field of quality, developing organizational structures to facilitate quality initiatives, empowering faculty, and promoting educational reforms were essential elements for achieving learning objectives.
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Gebbie K, Rosenstock L, Hernandez LM (eds). Committee on Educating Public Health Professionals for the 21st Century. Who Will Keep the Public Healthy? Educating Public Health Professionals for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2003.
This Institute of Medicine report examines the education of public health professionals, an essential component of the public health workforce. Report recommendations include establishing partnerships between schools of public health and other academic disciplines, local and state health departments and community organizations; adding public health training to medical and nursing school curricula; and increasing federal funding for public health research.
Armstrong EG, Mackey M, Spear SJ. Medical education as a process management problem. Academic Medicine. Aug 2004;79(8):721-728.
The authors argue that medical education can be designed more effectively. The current system fails to take into account in what order skill sets should be sequenced, how communication should occur between disciplines, and by what mechanisms the skills or knowledge should be mastered and assessed by the end of one phase so students are adequately prepared for the next.
National League for Nursing, Board of Governors. Position statement: Transforming nursing education. Nursing Education Perspectives. 2005;26(3):195-197.
This position statement is a call for change in nursing education. The group believes that nursing education must be rooted in research and actively engage the students in the learning process.
Headrick LA, Knapp M, Neuhauser D, et al. Working from upstream to improve health care: The IHI Interdisciplinary Professional Education Collaborative. Joint Commission Journal on Quality Improvement. 1996;22(3):149-164.
This article describes the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI) Interdisciplinary Professional Education Collaborative which began in August of 1994. The goal was to teach and train medical students in quality improvement theory, as a means to improve health care as they joined the medical workforce.
[See related information: Final Report: Community-Based Quality Improvement Education for the Health Professions, Interdisciplinary Professional Education Collaborative]
Batalden PB. If improvement of the quality and value of health and health care is the goal, why focus on health professional development? Quality Management in Health Care. 1998;6(2):52-61.
Connecting organization and issue-centered strategies for the improvement of health care with health professional development strategies offers an exciting opportunity for the next efforts to improve health care.
Chessman AW, Bellack JP, Lahoz MR, et al. Students add value to learning organizations: The Medical University of South Carolina experience. Quality Management in Health Care. 1998;6(2):38-43.
This article describes the influx of new energy and ideas that often accompany students who enter health care organizations. As these students learn quality improvement principles they can often greatly help organizations improve their quality.
