FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014
Contact: Leah C. Payne, Director of Public Affairs, Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy, 304-691-1713
Marshall School of Medicine early adopter of new national faculty development program
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine is one of the first five medical school programs in the United States to implement a new faculty development program, Teaching for Quality (Te4Q). The program trains clinical faculty and staff how to effectively teach quality improvement and patient safety to medical students, residents and other clinicians.
The program, created by the American Association of Medical Colleges, was implemented at Marshall in August.
“Today, more than ever, the emphasis in health care is on patient safety and quality improvement,” said James B. Becker, M.D., senior associate dean for clinical affairs at the School of Medicine. “This program will enable us to promote those elements across the full range of our educational mission. The work we do will benefit patients most, but it will also add to our research activities.”
As part of the Te4Q certification process, participants must develop and present an educational project plan. The plan must address an identified gap in the education of students, residents, and/or practicing clinicians regarding quality improvement and patient safety, design an educational innovation to fill that gap, and implement and assess the impact of the innovation.
Program directors from the residency/fellowship programs at the School of Medicine who participated are creating a joint project to develop and implement a required curriculum in patient safety and quality improvement to ensure all residents/fellows develop a minimal competency in quality improvement before entering practice.
“We are planning a learning experience that is a combination of didactic and project-based work to ensure that all of our trainees reach a certain level of competency before entering their clinical practice,” explained Paulette S. Wehner, M.D., vice dean, graduate medical education. “By building these educational experiences in health care improvement and stressing the importance of quality improvement, we can ultimately impact patient care outcomes as our trainees emerge into practice.”
Darshana Shah, Ph.D., associate dean for faculty affairs and professional development, said Te4Q delivers a system that allows quality improvement and patient safety concepts to be woven into every facet of medical education.
“We are very excited to bring this very important professional development program to Marshall,” Shah said. “Our goal is to develop a collaborative partnership with other health professions to improve quality of care and patient safety throughout every level of our organizations.”
In addition to Marshall School of Medicine participants, representatives from the Marshall University School of Pharmacy, St. Mary’s Medical Center and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center-Huntingtonattended the inaugural session which outlined the curriculum concepts and expectations for the six-month certification program.
Officials with the AAMC say to date approximately 130 clinical faculty have completed the program and it’s anticipated more than 350 will have participated by January as the program is expanded to additional sites.
"The Association of American Medical Colleges established the Teaching for Quality faculty development program to address an identified gap in the education of students, residents and practicing clinicians in quality improvement and patient safety," said David Davis, M.D., senior director, continuing education and performance improvement at the AAMC. "The Te4Q certificate program—comprised of an on-site workshop, the development of an educational project, and mentoring and online resources—prepares clinical faculty to effectively train both their peers and tomorrow's doctors in quality improvement and patient safety."
For more information on Te4Q and its national implementation sites, visit https://www.aamc.org/initiatives/cei/te4q/366190/howthete4qprogramworks.html.
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Date Posted: Thursday, September 4, 2014
