Career Impact of the Chief Resident in Quality and Safety Training Program: An Alumni Evaluation

摘要

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Purpose Most evaluations of quality improvement and patient safety (QI/PS) training programs provide inadequate data on their impact on alumni careers and QI/PS involvement. To address this gap, the authors investigated continued participation in and barriers to QI/PS work, employment, and satisfaction with training among alumni of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Chief Resident in Quality and Safety (CRQS) program. Method A cross-sectional, web-based survey was administered in January 2018 to all 238 CRQS program alumni (program years 2009–2017, 54 program sites). Results A total of 145 alumni (61%) completed the survey, of whom 40% were employed at the VA. Participants reported various professional roles including academic appointments, QI/PS-specific positions, and hospital leadership positions. Most respondents reported involvement in QI/PS activities within the past year, including conducting QI or PS projects and teaching QI or PS. Alumni dedicated a median 15% of their work time to QI/PS. Almost all alumni reported experiencing barriers to QI/PS involvement, most frequently lack of time given clinical responsibilities. Most were satisfied with the training, and almost all reported CRQS participation helped their professional career advancement. Conclusions The continued involvement in QI/PS reported by alumni suggests training programs such as the CRQS program may be successful in building a workforce of leaders equipped to conduct and teach QI/PS. Dedicated time for QI/PS efforts is an important barrier. Future research should address possible career options and assess the larger, overall effect training physicians in QI/PS has on health systems and patient care.