Meeting Resident Scholarly Activity Requirements Through a Longitudinal Quality Improvement Curriculum

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Primary Care
• Quality Improvement

Background:

• Quality improvement (QI) skills are integral to residency training.
• Limited data exists on the scholarly output of QI curricula in primary care settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the scholarly activity generated by a longitudinal, experiential QI curriculum.
• To assess the effectiveness of the Longitudinal Outpatient Practice Improvement Rotation (LOPIR) in meeting residency requirements.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a required LOPIR curriculum in a family medicine residency program.
• Involvement of residents, clinic staff, and faculty in multidisciplinary work groups.
• Residents completed literature reviews and QI projects, presenting findings locally and regionally.

Main Results:

• Sixty residents successfully completed the LOPIR curriculum by 2014.
• All residents met Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) scholarly activity requirements.
• Generated 83 local, 13 state/regional, and 2 national presentations, 7 awards, and 3 grants totaling $21,639.

Conclusions:

• The LOPIR curriculum effectively facilitates resident scholarly activity.
• This QI curriculum meets and exceeds ACGME scholarly activity requirements for family medicine residents.
• The program is resource-efficient and well-received by participants.