Quality Improvement Track | Department of Internal Medicine | UC Davis Health

Quality Improvement (QI) has become an increased focus in residency training over the last 15 years. It is embedded into the core competencies of residency programs, emphasizing the importance of understanding system-based practices. After graduation, nearly all internists are involved in QI efforts where they work, regardless of specialty. Many residents are interested in taking a more active role in this QI work, including leading projects now and in their future careers. The QI track helps residents develop the skills to improve patient outcomes and safety within the broader healthcare environment.

This hands-on curriculum is designed to equip residents with the tools, mentorship, and real-world experience to identify challenges in patient care and create sustainable, system-level solutions. Throughout the QI track, residents will learn to identify areas for improvement, create data-driven solutions, and implement interventions to enhance patient care, flow, and safety. It is a collaborative way to build leadership skills and drive meaningful change within the healthcare system.

Interested residents apply during the spring of their first or second year and will then complete the track during their second or third year of residency. Residents in the QI Track meet regularly with our QI faculty and key hospital, clinic, and department administrators to build these skills. Track activities include: 

• Completing a 1-week workshop in QI at the start of the academic year. This includes didactic sessions that review the key principles of QI in healthcare. Residents will focus on brainstorming, ideally ending the week with problem statements and measurable goals.
• Planning and implementing a quality improvement project over the course of 1-2 years.
• Participating in select hospital or clinic committees relevant to interests or projects. 
• Meeting with both an assigned faculty mentor and QI track mentor to guide projects and scholarly works. The track residents will work with key members of UC Davis Quality and Safety Department, Internal Medicine Quality and Safety Leadership, UC Davis Hospital Medicine Faculty, and UC Davis Primary Care Faculty. Mentors are also available at the Sacramento County Clinic, Kaiser, the VA, and in subspecialty settings to develop QI projects.
• Presenting the results of their QI project at the UC Davis Annual Healthcare Quality Forum, Internal Medicine Academic Forum, Morbidity/Mortality/Quality and Safety meeting, or Internal Medicine Grand Rounds.
• (Optional) Presenting at other regional/national meetings (e.g. ACP, SHM). Some residents have been awarded grants for their projects.

The residents participating in the QI track utilize creativity, problem solving, teamwork, gap/error analysis, process mapping, and data gathering, to build a lifelong skill set as they tackle their very own QI projects. 

Examples of some of the projects that UC Davis QI Track residents have completed include:

• Projects with high impact
  • Standardizing signout
  • Improving medicine reconciliation
  • Reducing readmissions
  • Increasing depression screening in ambulatory setting
• Projects with high value
  • Reducing ordering of unnecessary daily labs
  • Targeting unnecessary telemetry usage
  • Improving access to care for multi visit patients
• Projects influencing patient experience
  • Increasing POLST completion rates in the outpatient setting
  • Improving primary care assurance at transition of care
  • Increasing the patients who are offered treatment for alcohol use disorder
  • Improving communication for non-English speaking patients
• Projects influencing residency experience
  • Improving intern pre-rounding efficiency
  • Improving clinical documentation in the outpatient setting