Quality Improvement Curriculum for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residents: A Needs Assessment

This needs assessment survey of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) program directors (PDs) from Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited programs aimed to (1) describe current quality improvement (QI) training, (2) characterize PDs' perceptions of their own and their faculty's QI knowledge and skill, and (3) determine PDs' opinions of optimal QI training to inform the development of a future QI curriculum. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Forty-five percent of PDs (35/78) responded. All programs had QI education and required QI project participation; however, the quantity and types of learning experiences varied greatly. PDs assessed their ability as less than proficient to teach QI (67%) and lead a project (57%), and rated 60% of their faculty as having novice or advanced beginner QI skills. PDs reported 31% of graduating residents had less than competent QI skills. Almost all PDs were interested in a standardized QI curriculum.