This year, IHI held a Quick Course workshop here in Toronto to build essential Quality Improvement skills and teach us about implementation, sustainability and spread of improvement initiatives!
One lucky contestant won our photo contest to attend this workshop (valued at USD $500) for free! Read the article below to find out more about her experience and what she learned.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself. What’s your program and field of study? Do you have a background in quality improvement?
I am a senior doctoral student in Health Services Research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto. Although my background is in health technology assessment, some of the studies I have worked on over the years have incorporated quality and process improvement.
2. What drew you to the IHI Quick Course?
I was drawn to the course simply because it was a great opportunity to be introduced essential skills in one day. Before the course I had some understanding of how and when to use the plan-do-study-act cycle but wanted to learn more about implementation strategies according to the life cycle of a quality improvement initiative.
3. Can you name a few things that stood out to you? What did you take away from it?
I was impressed with how passionate everyone was about improving quality of care they provide. Everyone in attendance was pro-active, helpful and with a flexible mindset, i.e. thinking outside the box. In particular, I enjoyed seeing how we can use multiple approaches to solve a single problem.
4. How will you implement what you’ve learned?
I have already started thinking of how to effectively implement the PDSA cycle in an upcoming evaluation study I am involved with. I plan on incorporating methodologies learnt in the workshop as part of a proposal I am currently preparing.