Development and Assessment of a Web-Based Clinical Quality Improvement Curriculum

Abstract

Abstract Background Understanding quality improvement (QI) is an important skill for physicians, yet educational interventions focused on teaching QI to residents are relatively rare. Web-based training may be an effective teaching tool in time-limited and expertise-limited settings. Intervention We developed a web-based curriculum in QI and evaluated its effectiveness. Methods During the 2011–2012 academic year, we enrolled 53 first-year internal medicine residents to complete the online training. Residents were provided an average of 6 hours of protected time during a 1-month geriatrics rotation to sequentially complete 8 online modules on QI. A pre-post design was used to measure changes in knowledge of the QI principles and self-assessed competence in the objectives of the course. Results Of the residents, 72% percent (37 of 51) completed all of the modules and pretests and posttests. Immediate pre-post knowledge improved from 6 to 8.5 for a total score of 15 (P < .001) and pre-post self-assessed competence in QI principles on paired t test analysis improved from 1.7 to 2.7 on a scale of 5 for residents who completed all of the components of the course. Conclusions Web-based training of QI in this study was comparable to other existing non–web-based curricula in improving learner confidence and knowledge in QI principles. Web-based training can be an efficient and effective mode of content delivery.