Teaching and assessing resident competence in practice-based learning and improvement.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Quality Improvement
• Internal Medicine Training

Background:

• Effective training in practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI) is crucial for resident development.
• Existing curricula may not adequately prepare residents for quality improvement initiatives.
• A structured PBLI elective can address these educational gaps.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design, implement, and evaluate a 4-week PBLI elective for internal medicine residents.
• To assess the impact of the PBLI elective on residents' knowledge and self-assessed skills.
• To compare the performance of participants and a control group on a quality improvement project.

Main Methods:

• A 4-week PBLI elective was conducted with 11 internal medicine residents.
• A comparison group of 22 residents without the elective was included.
• The Quality Improvement Knowledge Application Tool and self-assessed ratings were used for evaluation.

Main Results:

• Participants showed significantly higher post-elective Quality Improvement Knowledge Application Tool scores compared to pre-test.
• Self-assessed PBLI skills increased post-rotation and remained elevated at 6 months.
• Residents in the PBLI elective demonstrated superior performance on a patient care improvement project.

Conclusions:

• The 4-week PBLI elective effectively enhanced residents' quality improvement knowledge and skills.
• The curriculum facilitated residents' ability to lead and complete patient care improvement projects.
• PBLI electives are a valuable component of internal medicine residency training.