Dr. Brian Wong
Dr. Olivia Ostrow
Dr. Beth Gamulka
Christian Base (Department of Medicine)
Sherri Mizrachi (Department of Paediatrics)
In-person
Two half-day workshops and team-based QI project work.
2 Workshops, one in September and one in January.
The Co-Learning Curriculum covers topics that are fundamental to the successful execution of a QI initiative. These include: choosing a QI project focus, aim statements, QI measures, process tools, mapping solutions to problems that account for local context, stakeholder engagement, rapid cycle change (i.e. PDSA), and run charts.
The curriculum spans one academic year and includes two workshops (fall and winter) that involve didactic and interactive learning, a faculty-resident team-based QI project, and a final session in June that features an invited keynote speaker and group project presentations. Three sub-specialty training programs are grouped together for the workshops allowing for interactivity and cross-program learning. Project work occurs in-between sessions with each group’s faculty providing ongoing mentoring throughout this time.
This innovative program teaches QI to faculty members and trainees (typically residents) at the same time, achieving the dual goal of developing core QI competencies for residents while creating faculty capacity to teach QI and supervise QI projects. We have taught faculty and learners across a wide range of medical and surgical specialties, and have started to pilot a modified version of the program for other health professional groups (e.g. dieticians, pharmacists).
Faculty who have participated as learners in the over 35 training programs from the Departments of Medicine, Paediatrics, Surgery and Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology at the University of Toronto now teach in the Co-Learning Curriculum and mentor residents’ QI projects. A keynote speaker is invited each year for the final plenary session.
Co-Learning QI is a requirement for participating University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine programs. We have offered consultation services on the Co-Learning Model for other schools that have been interested in adopting it in their own settings.