Harvard University Shield




Contact Information:
Melissa Manolis
- Administrative Manager
HMS Fellowship in Patient Safety & Quality
mmanolis@bidmc.harvard.edu
Harvard Medical School

The curriculum has three main components:

Didactic training:
Fellows will participate in the HMS Master of Healthcare Quality and Safety Program on a part-time basis over a period of two years.

Operational experience:
Fellows will actively participate in quality and safety work at their institution. They will apply principles learned in didactic training implementing and managing local quality and safety efforts.

Participation in centralized HMS Fellowship activities:
Fellows will have the opportunity to provide and receive mentorship from other members of the fellowship community, including HMS Fellowship faculty and CRICO leaders.

Core Learning - Content will be conceptually grouped into four content areas: patient safety theory, quality improvement, effective change management, and hospital operations. Additionally, there are site-based rotations to assure educational opportunities across the continuum of health care setting, such as inpatient, ambulatory, and skilled nursing facility.

  1. Patient safety theory:

    • Fellows will describe principles of system design, human factors, and high reliability.
    • Fellows will demonstrate coaching methods for disclosure and apology after an adverse event.
    • Fellows will articulate the essentials of root cause analysis, and identify actionable improvements from a standardized adverse event.
    • Fellows will perform a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis.
    • Fellows will participate in resident educational efforts and develop safety teaching skills.
  2. Quality improvement:

    • Fellows will demonstrate measureable work in an area of health care process design, clinical outcomes, or waste/cost reduction.
  3. Effective change management:

    • Fellows will articulate the challenges of effective change in the health care setting, including employing specific change management and consensus building strategies.
    • Fellows will list best strategies for engaging caregivers in change, engaging front line staff, assuring leadership engagement, and identifying methods to assure effectiveness of change.
  4. Hospital operations:

    • Fellows will list the core elements of quality program design, utilization, peer review, adverse event analysis, departmental leadership structures, medical staff functions, bringing evidence to point of care, and implementing technology into clinical environments.
    • Fellows will articulate the key interactions between quality and patient safety, medical staff leadership, hospital operations, and senior leadership.
    • Fellows will demonstrate knowledge of the optimum relationship between quality and patient safety activities and education.
Teaching and learning methods:

A minimum of two opportunities to participate in patient safety and quality activities within ambulatory and/or skilled nursing sites will be available to fellows throughout the two year period.

Assessment of goals and objectives:

Masters’ Degree objectives will be assessed by HMS and examination results.

Performance Improvement achievement will be assessed through regular project mentoring sessions and by a team of core Faculty at the conclusion of each Fellows’ project.

Behavioral assessments of fellows’ ability to model and coach disclosure approach caregivers after an adverse event will be assessed by videotaped simulations evaluated by core faculty.

Site directors will complete evaluations of fellows every six months.

Other learning opportunities:

Opportunities to interact with local leading patient safety organizations such as the Institute for Healthcare Improvement/National Patient Safety Foundation and the Massachusetts Medical Society will be provided (including attendance at national meetings).

Supervision Policy:

Fellows will be directly supervised by an attending-level Site Director at each institution or by his/her attending-level designee. No independent responsibility for assuring hospital quality and patient safety is accorded during the fellowship.


Copyright © 2024 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College