You may have heard about “The Conversation Project” once or twice by now – maybe in an email or on your Twitter feed. You may know that it has something to do with end-of-life care and respecting everyone’s own wishes. This post will explain to you exactly what it is and why, as a student, it’s worth your attention and passion.   First off, what is The Conversation Project? The Conversation Project, founded by Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Ellen Goodman and launched in collaboration with ... read full post

As we approached 100,000 students and residents in the IHI Open School, we came up with the idea to reach out to members of our community for feedback. What did 100,000 mean to them? How has this community changed their lives? Why should the next 100,000 join?   We were overwhelmed and humbled by the response.  Old friends, new friends, faculty, students, residents, professionals, and colleagues shared their thoughts. We received dozens of creative, thoughtful messages.   One student took ... read full post

Getting started can be the hardest part of any endeavor, and starting an IHI Open School Chapter is no exception. To some of us, this may seem like a no-brainer. Don’t we all want to improve care? Shouldn’t connecting with each other be a natural way to stay motivated and begin make positive changes? While this may be true, conflicting schedules and priorities, busy faculty, and limited resources can all be roadblocks to getting and staying involved. The IHI Open School wants to make this easi ... read full post

Many schools have helped us get to 100,000 students and residents in the IHI Open School. There are hundreds of Chapters at universities around the world – some with hundreds of members – that are leading the charge. There are a (growing!) number of schools that are integrating our courses and our basic certificate into their curricula. And there are a collection of teams in various countries that are helping us to test our IHI Open School Quality Improvement Practicum.  We’ve come to realize ... read full post

The IHI Open School was originally created to provide education on quality improvement and patient safety to students in health professional schools. Digging deeper, that means, in essence, to provide better care to patients everywhere, every time. So why, from the patient perspective, should the next 100,000 students join the IHI Open School? We asked our two IHI advisors. Here’s what they had to say: Martha Hayward, Lead, Public-Patient Engagement, IHI: “If we want the health care systems ... read full post