It’s not the primetime show where aspiring entrepreneurs are trying to make millions, but a meeting of the minds where future pediatricians learn from each other and help enhance the patient experience in the process.
What is QI Shark Tank?
QI (quality-improvement) Shark Tank, which started here in 2018, is a forum where residents, fellows and even faculty can share QI projects that are in the works and get feedback.
“Quality improvement in medicine is the application of established medical knowledge to improve patient care systematically,” explained Dr. Gene Chen, program director for the pediatric residency at CHoR. “Residents and fellows are at the front lines of patient care and are often the first to notice opportunities for improvement.”
Dr. Ashlie Tseng, associate program director for curriculum development for the pediatric residency, and pediatric fellowship oversight director, organizes the annual event.
“Our residents and fellows have been involved in a lot of work that has incorporated into CHoR that span all units and clinical settings,” shared Dr. Tseng. “Sometimes it may be daunting to develop their own projects and to present it to a group, but we hope that this experience provides a forum for our team members to get feedback and to share their ideas and work.”
What type of ideas are presented?
This year, there were eight presentations including projects that focused on finding ways to reduce the number of unnecessary chest x-rays in one of our community emergency centers, a proposal to help make the prescribing of antibiotics more equitable across institutions and finding a system to better identify and communicate across care teams which patients are at risk of rapidly declining while in the hospital.
“It was evident in the quality of improvement work presented at QI Shark Tank that Dr. Tseng is doing an incredible job of teaching our future pediatricians the importance of improvement, how to choose projects that are meaningful to patients, and how to organize them in a way that maximizes their impact,” explained Dr. Matt Schefft, our pediatric hospital medicine division chief and associate chief quality and safety officer. “QI Shark Tank is the best example of our residency program teaching future pediatricians how to make care for children even better than it is today.”
The best possible outcome
In the end, everyone wins, but our patients are the ones who benefit the most.
“By presenting their projects, they refine their aims and outcomes in front of seasoned faculty in order to ensure a successful project,” said Dr. Chen. “Fostering a culture of continuous improvement enhances the reputation of CHoR and VCU Health as a premier institution for both patient care and medical education.”