Institute for Healthcare Improvement

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is an independent not-for-profit organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts - a leading innovator in health and health care improvement worldwide. The mission of the IHI Open School Chapter of Baylor College of Medicine is to educate students about the importance of quality improvement and patient safety (QI/PS), to equip students with tools & skills in QI/PS for their future careers, and to engage students in improving health outcomes and the patient experience

• Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Skills Workshops
- Process Mapping
- Root Cause Analysis
- Patient Handoffs
- Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycles

• Business in Healthcare Lecture Series
• Innovation in Medicine Lecture Series
• Texas Medical Center Quality Improvement & Patient Safety Conference
• Research opportunities to submit to national conferences and journals
• Faculty-to-Student and Student-to-Student Mentorship Programs
• Certification in Principles of Quality Improvement & Patient Safety

Please refer to the BCM Electives website for additional information about these electives.

Pre-Clinical Electives:
(1) MEPED 567: Introduction to Quality Improvement & Patient Safety
- A pre-clinical elective for MS1s which provides small group sessions to introduce students to the methods and real-world applications of quality improvement.

(2) MEMED 629: Skills and Advanced Topics in PS/QI
- This elective is designed as a series of workshops to provide in-depth discussion and problem-based learning of key principles in patient safety and quality improvement. It builds on skills learned in MEPED 567.

Clinical Electives:
(1) MEMED 626: Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
- The overall education goal of this elective is to provide medical students with exposure and hands-on experience in quality improvement with a focus on the fundamentals of patient safety thereby increasing their ability to apply the learned principles in future practice.

(2) MEMED631R: Quality Improvement for Personal & Professional Development
- Students will pair with a mentor experienced in QI training and healthcare improvement science. The students will learn fundamentals of healthcare quality improvement including its research as well as how to approach system-based problem solving, data analysis, and implementation science. Students will apply the methods used in quality improvement to the completion of a personal improvement project. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in an ongoing interprofessional QI curriculum.

IHI sponsors a mentorship program with faculty from nearly all medical specialties, in order to engage students in quality and safety projects as well as provide career mentoring and professional development.

The annual IHI conference is now a CME-accredited conference, known as the Baylor College of Medicine Annual Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Conference, which is attended by physicians, public health professionals, research professionals, and trainees from all over the TMC and the Houston area. It hosts innovative keynote speakers, workshops, and a poster session featuring projects focused on quality, safety, and other areas of healthcare improvement.

An introductory chapter meeting is held at the beginning of each fall semester. If this date has passed and you would like to become involved with the chapter, please email the organizational contact.

Contact

Co-Presidents: Anoosha Moturu (anoosha.moturu@bcm.edu) and Adam Floyd (adam.floyd@bcm.edu)

Community Engagement VP: Raj Reddy, rajadhar.reddy@bcm.edu