Teaching to the Test: Threading the Needle on Sepsis Quality Metrics

As quality metrics become more tightly linked to reimbursement and reputation, medical educators face the growing challenge of teaching clinical medicine in the context of policy-driven mandates. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sepsis bundle (SEP-1) requires physicians to execute time-bound interventions with little flexibility, while clinicians' professional duty compels them to individualize care based on evidence, comorbidities, and evolving best practices. This perspective explores how educators can prepare trainees to recognize when clinical actions are grounded in evidence-based practice, professional judgment, or the demands of a protocol. Teachers should become skilled at narrating the moments when clinical care and compliance overlap, diverge, or conflict. Post hoc reflection plays a critical role in consolidating these lessons, allowing trainees to explore trade-offs and question assumptions. Medical educators must guide learners through today's system while preparing them to shape it tomorrow.