The practicing anesthesiologist is often expected to be a problem solver for the hospital. This is particularly true for perioperative quality and safety. This new rotation is an opportunity to have a real and meaningful impact on quality, safety and effectiveness at Stanford. Dr. Ruth Fanning is the rotation director, and will provide fundamental concepts via a syllabus to the resident 6 months prior to the rotation.
This rotation gives the resident experience with competencies for Practice-based learning and Improvement and Systems-based Practice, including Practice Performance Assessment and Improvement as required by the ABA Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology (MOCA) Part 4. Residents can enlist up to 2 other residents on a QI project.
The resident on this rotation (1/month) participates in the Stanford Medical Center Quality curriculum led by Dr. Clarence Braddock whose program includes housestaff from other departments. This core curriculum includes weekly seminars on quality, safety, and system change, attendance at several department-level and hospital-level quality committees (e.g. Quality, Safety, and Effectiveness Committee, Care Improvement Committee), 1:1 meetings with key organizational leaders as needed, and support including data gathering and analytics.
The resident submits a one page proposal 6 months ahead of time for a safety or quality improvement project they want to work on under direction of a faculty mentor. The idea for the project can either be the resident’s or one of the department’s ongoing priorities for quality and safety. The expectation is that preliminary work on the project would be done before officially starting the rotation. The project idea and plan is presented prior to the rotation to the department’s Committee on Quality, Efficiency and Patient Satisfaction chaired by Dr. Lemmens for feedback. The resident also sits in on the Pediatric Anesthesia Safety/Peer review and Quality committee at LPCH.
The resident submit results of project to Western Anesthesia Residents Conference for the Spring after the elective, and present results to housestaff and faculty at an appropriate venue (e.g., Grand Rounds, the Stanford anesthesia department research evening).