The IHI Open School is an innovative learning community where you can take free online courses, earn certificates, network with peers and experts, and gain confidence and skills in quality improvement and patient safety to change health care.
IHI and HarvardX — Harvard University’s branch of the online learning venture edX — have collaborated to produce a free massive open online course (MOOC) called PH 556x: Practical Improvement Science in Health Care: A Roadmap for Getting Results. Starting on January 20 and lasting for six weeks, the course will submerge learners in engaging, interactive materials and relevant resources to start building improvement skills that will serve them long after the MOOC ends. Faculty include Dr. Don Goldmann, IHI’s Chief Medical and Scientific Officer; Dave Williams, an IHI Executive Director; and Dr. Don Berwick, IHI President Emeritus. Physicians, nurses, residents, and quality professionals who complete the course also have the option to earn six continuing education credits (CEUs) for a $99 fee. We invite you to register, share the link with colleagues, and help spread the word about this exciting new course.
Just over a year ago, the IHI Open School community set an audacious goal — to mobilize 30,000 people to improve population health by December 2015. I-CAN Scholars and the student leaders of the I-CAN International Pledge-A-Thon led the effort, and last week, the Open School community hit its goal! In just one month, 27 teams from eight countries engaged 5,747 people in local campaigns to address health issues facing their communities. Congratulations to all involved! If you’re interested in contributing to this ongoing campaign, you can learn more and tell us how you plan to improve the health of your community at www.ihi.org/ICAN.
The debate over resident work hours has erupted again, with the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) calling for an end to clinical trials that have residents at 63 medical programs working the 30-hour shifts that were banned in 2011. Last month, The Washington Post reported that the trial is studying the effect on patient safety of the 30-hour shifts, which may increase errors due to sleep deprivation. The trial will compare the longer shifts to the new 16-hour shifts, which result in more handoffs from one provider to another. Neither providers nor patients agreed to participate in the trial. Last week, AMSA said the trial poses “serious health risks” and appealed to the United States government to shut it down.
Community Updates
Welcome, New Chapters
Eastern Washington University, Spokane, Washington, USA
Malaysian Society for Quality in Health, Malaysia
Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
Halifax Health Medical Center, Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
Quality improvement is best learned through practice. That’s why the IHI Open School Chapter at Duke University developed its own six-month practicum program for graduate students across disciplines, based on the IHI Open School Quality Improvement Practicum. The Quality and Innovation Scholars Program (QISP) matches students with physicians and leaders in the Duke Health System to carry out health care improvement projects. So far, the program has reached almost 70 students. In this interview on the Open School blog, Chapter leaders Kathryn Hutchins and Maria Andrews explain how the Chapter got the program off the ground and how your Chapter can create its own practicum.
