Patient Safety and Quality Curriculum

How do I practice medicine safely? How do I deliver the best possible care to my patients?

These are central questions for every physician. Our residency program firmly believes that our responsibility is not only to prepare residents to practice medicine, but also to teach them a quality improvement (QI) approach. QI and safety training has been part of our core curriculum since 2001 (years before it was a requirement), and our program is a national leader in QI education.

We are fortunate to practice in a hospital and department that value and nurture high quality care and a commitment to continuous improvement. BIDMC's Silverman Institute reflects these priorities, which permeate every discipline from the first day of orientation until graduation.

Interns are introduced to basic principles in safety and quality in the ambulatory curriculum, and review their own inpatient practice with respect to cost and quality. In the junior and senior years, all residents complete the Stoneman Elective under the mentorship of our Patient Safety Core Faculty. These residents complete an adverse event review of a live case and participate in a group QI project.

For those interested in advanced leadership in QI we offer the QI retreat, a unique course in Lean process improvement where residents learn alongside nurses and other health professions.

We know that 20% of our recent alumni have gone on to take roles in QI and Safety as part of their work. Among our graduates are national quality improvement leaders and several Harvard Medical School Patient Safety Fellows.