From left to right, Eric Sid, Nicole Kim, Huong Le, and Juan Magana, members of the IHI Open School Chapter at the University of Washington, won a national case competition this spring. Harlan Reeves’s heart is failing. He’s 69, and his family is struggling to pay its medical bills. His grown children disagree about whether he should live at home or move to an assisted living facility. How can the providers improve his care? This April, health students analyzed this fictional case in the ann ... read full post

Carolyn Stramecki said she learned a lot from the IHI Open School course QI 104 “Putting It All Together – How Quality Improvement Works in Real Health Settings.” She displayed that learning in an improvement project that won her the Dr. Heller Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship, offered by NAHQ, in collaboration with IHI and Midas+, honors the memory of Christopher Jonas Heller, MD. Heller, who died in 2010, was a distinguished physician and surgeon with a vision for quality improvement. ... read full post

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

What if every citizen’s end-of-live wishes could be expressed and respected in a way that was simple and transformative? Would you have the conversation about your views on a “good death” if you knew it would bring peace, security, and calm to your loved ones? We are all mortal, yet as a society we have been painfully slow in recognizing and acknowledging how many of the people we love are not dying in a manner of their choosing: in comfort, among people who care about them, and engaged in what ... read full post

May 9, 2011 was the first day of my third year of medical school, first day on the cardiology inpatient service, and the first day I met Ms. W, my first patient. Ms. W was a 77 year old woman with COPD, right-sided heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, and was in the ICU for ARDS due to spontaneous hemorrhage of unknown etiology. Because taking care of Ms. W would be challenging and overwhelming, my senior resident and I walked into Ms. W’s room together for introductions.  I naively expected t ... read full post