MED 4740 Safety and Quality
This four-week elective, organized in two parts, will allow students to build their knowledge of safety and quality. It is usually assumed that by learning how to assess the risk of disease, diagnose disease, and treat patients one intuitively learns how to practice safe, high quality medicine. Unfortunately, physicians make frequent, avoidable errors. Furthermore, they may not appreciate the vital role of the healthcare system in providing a safe medical environment and in promoting high quality care. Students will receive mentorship from the Elective Director, meeting at the start of the elective and at the end of each week at USUHS, typically for one hour. Additionally, students will rotate at Defense Health Headquarters (DHHQ) in Falls Church, VA where they will work closely with the Defense Health Agency (DHA) safety and quality leadership. The mission of this course is to build knowledge of safety and quality, which will increase as learners progress through residency, graduate to independent practice. The ultimate purpose of this course is for the student to become a leader in improving safety and quality.
Goals: At the end of this course, the student will be familiar with key safety and quality issues, at the level of the physician and at the level of the healthcare system. Furthermore, at the end of this course, the student will understand the roles safety and quality play in the practice of medicine. Unique Objectives: In the first two weeks, the student will: read seminal safety and quality articles, learn the most common medical errors, where and when they occur, and how to avoid them, and write a paper (no longer than five double-spaced pages) recommending a way that physicians can improve the safety and/or quality of their care. In the second two weeks, the student will: work closely with the Defense Health Agency Safety and Quality leadership in Falls Church, VA, learn how the healthcare system detects and corrects safety problems and improves the quality of care, and write a paper (no longer than five double-spaced pages) recommending an improvement project.
Offered
Defense Health Agency (DHA) - VA