Health Equity, Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (HEPSQI) Distinction Pathway

The Yale New Haven Hospital Office of Graduate Medical Education provides the opportunity for enrichment experiences in Health Equity, Quality Improvement and Patient Safety. Residents can earn a Distinction Certificate if they engage in meaningfully in a range of experiences within this pathway.

This yearly course consists of four 90-minute sessions on a variety of topics. These sessions take place in the evening from 7:30 - 9 p.m. to accommodate the typical resident schedule. To qualify for the Distinction Certificate, residents must attend all four sessions over the course of their residency.

Topics for 2024-25 include:

• QI Project Planning: Process Analysis and AIM Statements
• Placing Health Equity at the Forefront of QI Work: Tools and Frameworks
• What do we do with Data in QI Work? Variation, Data and Measurement
• How Do We Lead Change? Sustainability and Spread of Improvement

To qualify for the Distinction Certificate, residents must complete the IHI modules and obtain the Basic Certificate in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety.

To qualify for the Distinction Certificate, residents must complete a QI or scholarly project during their residency training. Funding is available through the GME office to help support the costs of the project and for costs of presentations at national or international meetings.

Each senior resident (PGY-3 and PGY-4) will be responsible for presenting at the regularly scheduled Yale M&M/PSQI conferences (12-14 per year). Patients will be identified by any member of the team, using SAFER reports and other patient safety reporting mechanisms. The presenting resident does not necessarily have to be involved in the clinical case. The attending physicians, residents, and other personnel involved in the case should participate in the discussion and are responsible to work with program leadership and the Clinical Chief Residents to ensure follow-through with any relevant quality improvement initiatives.

A structured approach is used during each presentation, according to the template linked below. There will be three presenters assigned to each date, and each presenter should prepare a 15-minute presentation to ensure there is time enough for each resident to complete their presentation and allow room for discussion. The goal will be to identify department-wide opportunities for quality improvement.

To qualify for the HEPSQI Distinction Certificate, residents will coordinate at least one session and will engage in the review of the SAFER reports to determine which cases are most conducive to group discussion and department-wide QI priorities.

Barbara Gordon-Kundu - Vascular Neurologist, Hackensack Merdian Health; Anisha Garg – Assistant Professor, Mount Sinai Health System

Shreya Shah, MD - Movement Disorders Fellow, Mt. Sinai

Priyanka Chilakamarri, MD - Assistant Professor, University of California, San Francisco

Paul Fu, MD, MBA - Chief Medical Officer, Sturdy Memorial Hospital, Attleboro, MA