Quality Improvement and Research
Quality Improvement (QI)
We are very enthusiastic about having a robust QI curriculum for residents. We have been able to offer this curriculum because of a large number of faculty with training in and a passion for QI. Our residents work individually or in teams with a faculty mentor on a QI project of interest. Incoming interns may join an existing QI project or take time to develop their own, working individually or with a new team. Resident projects have contributed to improvements in patient care, education and wellness. Our monthly QI conference combines didactics and interactive sessions during which residents present their work and receive feedback from peers and faculty. We end the year with presentations at two Quality Improvement and Scholarship grand rounds.
Research
UMass Chan Medical School faculty members are engaged in research in areas ranging from medical education and simulation, to HIV/AIDS, asthma and diabetes, to children’s mental health services and health care for children with special health care needs. In the past, residents have initiated studies based on their clinical work and interests or joined ongoing teams involved in bench and clinical research. Residents are supported and encouraged to pursue grants and conference presentations.
We celebrate each other's work at the annual UMass Quality Improvement and Scholarship day, with a sampling of recent projects here:
- Enhancing Health Literacy in Worcester’s Refugees
- Improving DIJ Education in Primary Care Curriculum
- WIC Screening in the Newborn Nursery
- Social Vulnerability Index and Bronchiolitis Healthcare Utilization
- Safe Admissions Initiative
- Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) Measurements and Parameters of Respiratory Status in Very Preterm Infants
- Case Series of Infants with Human Parechovirus Meningitis
- The DotPhrase Project
- Improving Feedback across the Pediatric Residency Experience
- Health Outcomes of Very Low Birth Weight Infants based on Maternal Language Status
- Time to Antibiotics for Oncology Patients Presenting to the ED