Feb 15, 2023
Applications are now open for the fourth cohort of the province’s Clinical Quality Improvement Program (CQIP) and will close on May 17th, 2019.
CQIP helps physicians and other providers develop the ability to build quality improvement into their daily practice and become improvement leaders skilled at facilitating, coaching, and teaching quality improvement to others. As part of their learning, every participant carries out an improvement project in their work setting.
Modelled on the internationally-recognized mini-Advanced Training Program at Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, CQIP combines classroom and online learning with individual coaching and a community of practice. The Saskatchewan CQIP program is funded through a partnership between the Ministry of Health and the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA).
CQIP is geared to health care clinicians from all areas of Saskatchewan who are currently working in long-term, community, acute, or primary care. Clinicians are encouraged to apply on their own, or as part of a team. Physicians may be eligible for CME credits for their participation in CQIP.
“CQIP gave me a new philosophy to work with — a quality improvement (QI) philosophy. By learning the language and the conceptual framework of QI in a formal setting I can now look at these QI problems and what would otherwise be incomprehensible is now understandable and attackable.” -Dr. Kyle Mouton, a Saskatoon radiologist, CQIP Cohort 2 alumni
Participants are selected based on their prior experience with quality improvement, support from their home organization for their improvement project, and the extent to which that project aligns with health system priorities.
Dennis Kendel, HQC’s interim CEO, said interest in the program continues to grow largely based upon word of mouth recommendations from past participants. “We’ve heard from our graduates how beneficial this program is, so we encourage clinicians from across the province to apply. This year we would love to see even more participants from our rural areas and more family physicians,” says Kendel. “Clinicians can also apply in teams, which is a great option to share the improvement project workload while learning about all of the valuable QI tools and support the program has to offer.”
There are currently 25 physicians participating in Cohort 3, which began in September 2018. Fourteen physicians successfully completed the first wave of the program and 20 physicians and two pharmacists completed the second. There are already over 30 individuals who have expressed interest in applying to this next cohort. Due to the hands-on nature of the program, the number of seats available for Cohort 4 participants is limited.
Clinicians accepted for Cohort 4 will be notified at the end of June. Successful applicants will begin their pre-work in July, in preparation for the first in-person learning lab on September 13th and 14th. Clinicians interested in applying can find more information here.
