Developing a Practice-Based Learning and Improvement Quality Improvement (QI) Systems Impact Assessment Questionnaire

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) acknowledged the changing needs of physicians in training when it endorsed practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI) -- a competency that is typically omitted from medical curriculum. The goal is to have residents competent to investigate and evaluate their own patient care practices, integrate scientific evidence and be able to improve their practices. Available assessment tools do not adequately address all of the components of PBLI and few assessment tools attempt to capture the residents' ability to develop and implement clinically-based Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) projects that involve the practice setting. Curriculums without such foci miss the importance of system perspectives and opportunities for interprofessional team development. Our aim is to evaluate preliminary data on the curriculum we developed to address the gaps, to develop an assessment tool, and to provide methods for assessing the sustainability of system projects. The key component of the curriculum is the integration of system quality improvement projects. PBLI curriculum was offered on alternate rotations. Preliminary data is available from 6 PBLI QI Systems Curriculum blocks (n=50) and 5 comparison blocks (n=42). Data includes closed- and open-ended questions designed to assess resident PBLI application skills, the notes and presentation slides for the residents' presentation.