scholarly journals Residents’ perspective of quality improvement and patient safety education in Canadian emergency medicine residency programs

CJEM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-231
Author(s):  
Sachin V. Trivedi ◽  
Riley J. Hartmann ◽  
Justin N. Hall ◽  
Laila Nasser ◽  
Danielle Porplycia ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTObjectivesQuality improvement and patient safety (QIPS) competencies are increasingly important in emergency medicine (EM) and are now included in the CanMEDS framework. We conducted a survey aimed at determining the Canadian EM residents’ perspectives on the level of QIPS education and support available to them.MethodsAn electronic survey was distributed to all Canadian EM residents from the Royal College and Family Medicine training streams. The survey consisted of multiple-choice, Likert, and free-text entry questions aimed at understanding familiarity with QIPS, local opportunities for QIPS projects and mentorship, and the desire for further QIPS education and involvement.ResultsOf 535 EM residents, 189 (35.3%) completed the survey, representing all 17 medical schools; 77.2% of respondents were from the Royal College stream; 17.5% of respondents reported that QIPS methodologies were formally taught in their residency program; 54.7% of respondents reported being “somewhat” or “very” familiar with QIPS; 47.2% and 51.5% of respondents reported either “not knowing” or “not having readily available” opportunities for QIPS projects and QIPS mentorship, respectively; 66.9% of respondents indicated a desire for increased QIPS teaching; and 70.4% were interested in becoming involved with QIPS training and initiatives.ConclusionsMany Canadian EM residents perceive a lack of QIPS educational opportunities and support in their local setting. They are interested in receiving more QIPS education, as well as project and mentorship opportunities. Supporting residents with a robust QIPS educational and mentorship framework may build a cohort of providers who can enhance the local delivery of care.

CJEM ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (S1) ◽  
pp. S29-S30
Author(s):  
S. Trivedi ◽  
R. Hartmann ◽  
J. Hall ◽  
L. Nasser ◽  
O. Levac-Martinho ◽  
...  

Introduction: Quality improvement and patient safety (QIPS) are increasingly recognized as integral to the provision and advancement of emergency medicine (EM) care. In 2015, QIPS were added to the Canadian Medical Education Directives for Specialists (CanMEDS) framework. However, the level of QIPS education and support that Canadian EM residents receive is unknown. In order to better plan national QIPS efforts aimed at enabling EM residents to improve their local care settings, we sought to assess the current state of QIPS education and support in Canadian EM residency programs. Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional electronic survey that was disseminated to all current Canadian EM residents from both Royal College (RC) and Family Medicine - EM training streams. Residents were recruited either directly or through their program's administrative assistant. The survey consisted of multiple-choice, Likert and free-text entry questions. Themes included a) familiarity with QIPS; b) local opportunities for QIPS projects and mentorship; and c) desire for further QIPS education and involvement. The survey was open for a five-week period, with formal reminders after the first and third weeks. Descriptive statistics are reported. Results: 189 (35%) of 535 current EM residents completed the survey, representing all 17 medical schools. 77% of respondents were from the RC stream. 54.7% of respondents reported being “somewhat” or “very” familiar with QIPS. 47.2% of respondents reported “not knowing” or “not having readily available” QIPS projects to participate in their local environment, and 51.5% had equivalent responses with respect to QIPS mentorship opportunities. Only 17.5% of respondents reported that QIPS methodologies were already formally taught in their residency program, and 66.9% indicated a desire for increased QIPS teaching. The majority of respondents were “slightly” (35.9%), “moderately” (23.2%) or “very” (11.3%) interested in becoming involved with QIPS training and initiatives. Conclusion: Responding Canadian EM residents are interested in obtaining greater QIPS education as well as project and mentorship opportunities, but many perceive that they do not have adequate access to these at the current time. As the importance of QIPS increases in the EM community, supporting residents with more robust educational infrastructures may be necessary. Future efforts may include the standardizing of QIPS postgraduate curricula and improving access to QIPS opportunities across the country.


CJEM ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (S1) ◽  
pp. S62-S62 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.B. Chartier ◽  
S. Vaillancourt ◽  
M. McGowan ◽  
K. Dainty ◽  
A.H. Cheng

Introduction: The Canadian Medical Education Directives for Specialists (CanMEDS) framework defines the competencies that postgraduate medical education programs must cover for resident physicians. The 2015 iteration of the CanMEDS framework emphasizes Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (QIPS), given their role in the provision of high value and cost-effective care. However, the opinion of Emergency Medicine (EM) program directors (PDs) regarding the need for QIPS curricula is unknown, as is the current level of knowledge of EM residents in QIPS principles. We therefore sought to determine the need for a QIPS curriculum for EM residents in a Canadian Royal College EM program. Methods: We developed a national multi-modal needs assessment. This included a survey of all Royal College EM residency PDs across Canada, as well as an evaluative assessment of baseline QIPS knowledge of 30 EM residents at the University of Toronto (UT). The resident evaluation was done using the validated Revised QI Knowledge Application Tool (QIKAT-R), which evaluates an individual’s ability to decipher a systematic quality problem from short clinical scenarios and to propose change initiatives for improvement. Results: Eight of the 13 (62%) PDs responded to the survey, unanimously agreeing that QIPS should be a formal part of residency training. However, challenges identified included the lack of qualified and available faculty to develop and teach QIPS material. 30 of 30 (100%) residents spanning three cohorts completed the QIKAT-R. Median overall score was 11 out of 27 points (IQR 9-14), demonstrating the lack of poor baseline QIPS knowledge amongst residents. Conclusion: QIPS is felt to be a necessary part of residency training, but the lack of available and qualified faculty makes developing and implementing such curriculum challenging. Residents at UT consistently performed poorly on a validated QIPS assessment tool, confirming the need for a formal QIPS curriculum. We are now developing a longitudinal, evidence-based QIPS curriculum that trains both residents and faculty to contribute to QI projects at the institution level.


CJEM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (S1) ◽  
pp. S36-S36
Author(s):  
M. Hale ◽  
W. Cheung ◽  
J. Frank

Introduction: Little is known about how Royal College emergency medicine (RCEM) residency programs are selecting their residents. This creates uncertainty regarding alignment between our current selection processes and known best practices and results in a process that is difficult to navigate for prospective candidates. We seek to describe the current selection processes of Canadian RCEM programs. Methods: An online survey was distributed to all RCEM program directors and assistant directors. The survey instrument included 22 questions consisting of both open-ended (free text) and closed-ended (Likert scale) elements. Questions sought qualitative and quantitative data from the following 6 domains; paper application, letters of reference, elective selection, interview, rank order, and selection process evaluation. Descriptive statistics were used. Results: We received responses from 13/14 programs for an aggregate response rate of 92.9%. A candidate's letter of reference was identified as the single most important item from the paper application (38.5%). Having a high level of familiarity with the applicant was considered to be the most important characteristic of a reference letter author (46.2%). Respondents found that providing a percentile rank of the applicant was useful when reviewing candidate reference letters. Once the interview stage is reached, 76.9% of programs stated that the interview was weighted at least as heavily as the paper application; 53.8% weighted the interview more heavily. Once final candidate scores are established for both the paper application and the interview, 100% of programs indicated that further adjustment is made to the rank order list. Only 1/13 programs reported ever having completed a formal evaluation of their selection process. Conclusion: The information gained from this study helps to characterize the landscape of the RCEM residency selection process. We identified significant heterogeneity between programs with respect to which application elements were most valued. Canadian emergency medicine residency programs should re-evaluate their selection processes to achieve improved consistency and better alignment with selection best practices.


Author(s):  
Aaron Wang ◽  
Allison Meiwald ◽  
Robert Harper ◽  
Kristine Van Aarsen ◽  
Justin Yan

Objectives: Our objective was to describe the variability of research methodology teaching among English-speaking Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada emergency medicine (RCPSC-EM) residency programs. We also aimed to identify barriers to teaching research methodology curricula. Methods: An electronic survey was sent by email to program directors and residents of English-speaking RCPSC-EM training programs countrywide. Reminder emails were sent after 2, 4, and 8 weeks. Quantitative, descriptive statistics were prepared, and qualitative data and themes were identified. Results: We received a total of 7 responses from the possible 12 program directors (response rate = 58.3%). Out of 354 potential resident respondents, 82 (23.2%) completed the survey. There was disparity between resident and program director responses with respect to the existence of curricula, preparation for Royal College exams, and usefulness for future practice. Barriers to teaching a research methodologies curriculum included lack of time, support, educated faculty, and finances. Conclusion: This survey demonstrates that Canadian EM residency programs vary with respect to research methodology curriculum, and discrepancies exist between residents’ and program directors’ perceptions of the curriculum. Given the lack of a standardized research methodology curriculum for these programs, there is an opportunity to improve training in research methodology.


2019 ◽  
Vol 94 (11) ◽  
pp. 1728-1732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandrijn M. van Schaik ◽  
Anna Chang ◽  
Shannon Fogh ◽  
Melissa Haehn ◽  
Audrey Lyndon ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 446-451
Author(s):  
Rasanat Fatima Nawaz ◽  
Bethan Page ◽  
Emily Harrop ◽  
Charles A Vincent

AimTo describe the nature and causes of reported patient safety incidents relating to care in the community for children dependent on long-term ventilation with the further aim of improving safety.MethodsWe undertook an analysis of patient safety incident data relating to long-term ventilation in the community using incident reports from England and Wales’ National Reporting and Learning System occurring between January 2013 and December 2017. Manual screening by two authors identified 220 incidents which met the inclusion criteria. The free text for each report was descriptively analysed to identify the problems in the delivery of care, the contributory factors and the patient outcome.ResultsCommon problems in the delivery of care included issues with faulty equipment and the availability of equipment, and concerns around staff competency. There was a clearly stated harm to the child in 89 incidents (40%). Contributory factors included staff shortages, out of hours care, and issues with packaging and instructions for equipment.ConclusionsThis study identifies a range of problems relating to long-term ventilation in the community, some of which raise serious safety concerns. The provision of services to support children on long-term ventilation and their families needs to improve. Priorities include training of staff, maintenance and availability of equipment, support for families and coordination of care.


CJEM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (S1) ◽  
pp. S48-S49
Author(s):  
J. Pritchard ◽  
A. Collier ◽  
S. Bartels

Introduction: Participation in Global Health (GH) electives can improve resourcefulness, cultural and ethical insight, and personal development. Risks to trainees, hosts and institutions may be minimized through pre-departure and post-elective training. In 2016 such training was mandatory in only 3 Canadian residency programs, however there is no published data specific to Canadian Emergency Medicine (EM) programs. This study sought to identify current GH elective requirements and related perceived gaps among Royal College EM programs. Methods: We conducted two cross-sectional surveys in 2019 (one each for Royal College EM PDs and residents) via email regarding training requirements for GH electives. Additionally, a survey link was distributed in the CAEP EM resident newsletter. We also contacted university PGME and/or global health offices to understand and collate university-wide requirements and resources. Results: Nine PDs responded, with 78% reporting having 1-5 residents participate in GH electives yearly. Many PDs were unsure of the requirements surrounding GH electives; two reported that pre-departure training was required, while none reported requiring post-departure debriefs. Overall, 67% of PDs felt that their residents were moderately prepared for GH electives and 33% felt they were unprepared to some degree. Thirty-three percent believed that improvements should be made to either pre-departure training or both pre- and post-departure training, while 56% were unsure if improvements were needed. Forty-seven out of an estimated 380 residents responded. Thirty-five percent of residents had completed a GH elective during residency. Of residents who participated in a GH elective, only one (6%) reported feeling very prepared; 18 residents (43%) reported there was a need to improve trainings. Residents reported a number of challenges during electives (lack of resources, inadequate supervision, safety issues) and identified priority topics for training. Conclusion: Although EM residents are participating in GH electives, the majority of EM residency programs do not require pre- or post-departure training. Some PDs and residents report varying levels of preparedness, and residents acknowledge a variety of challenges during GH electives. This information can be used to inform pre-departure/post-elective GH training or to encourage EM residents to access university-wide training.


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