The QI Resident Director is a position on the same level as chief resident. This resident provides a leadership role and given opportunities to enhance education regarding the intricacies of QI activities. This resident assists in the education of other residents regarding QI.
The selected resident is given financial support to attend a national meeting with a focus on QI. Upon his or her return, the resident provides a summary of the meeting to the other residents in the program.
This resident completes a substantial QI project and submits the resulting manuscript to a major peer-reviewed radiology journal. The presentation of the project at a national meeting is encouraged. The project selected is be designed to enhance departmental QI activities. Mentorship from faculty is provided from Dr. Basak, Dr. Kempf, and Dr. Schonfeld.
The resident QI director serves as the contact person for junior residents to help them deal effectively with adverse events or quality issues that may impact them. The resident QI director is involved in the formulation of the monthly QA conferences run by an attending and another resident. The resident QI director lectures on QI topics derived from suggestions and recommendations from residents, issues identified at the department QA conference, and self-selected topics. This resident works closely with Dr. Schonfeld, the QI program director, and the associate program director in enhancing QI opportunities and education for the residents in the program. Furthermore, this resident serves as a liaison between the residency program and the University Radiology Group's QA Committee.
A critical component of the radiology residency is completion of a Quality Improvement project. This involves direct involvement in a project that involves findings a practice problem to improve upon or correct, developing an intervention, implementing that intervention and then quantitatively measuring the effect of the intervention. Examples include accuracy of radiology reports regarding right/left discrepancy, complications related to image guided procedures and documentation of communication with referring physicians regarding urgent findings.