Dr. Gary Reed leads a discussion at the Quality Improvement Boot Camp, an event designed to teach students skills to improve processes and reduce errors that impact patient care.

Students from UT Southwestern Medical School and UT Arlington teamed up this summer at the Quality Improvement Boot Camp, a weeklong program that teaches students how to run a QI project using methodologies and tools used across the spectrum of healthcare.

Eleven UT Southwestern students, most of whom are pursuing a medical degree with Distinction in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, collaborated with 10 engineering and nursing students from UTA. The program took place at the A.W. Harris Faculty Club on South Campus.

The students, divided into interdisciplinary teams, were tasked to determine the best solution to a hypothetical hospital problem. The boot camp also included presentations on QI methods and tools; how to collect, analyze, and present data; and how to work together effectively in an interdisciplinary setting. Mentors from the schools guided the teams, teaching sessions on quality improvement, systems thinking, and working in interdisciplinary groups.

Dr. Gary Reed, Associate Dean for Quality, Safety and Outcomes Education, is the course director of the annual Quality Improvement Boot Camp. Other faculty teaching in the program included UTSW Drs. Jason Fish, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, and Oren Guttman, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, and Drs. Paul Componation and Susan Ferreira from UTA.

At the end of the week, the teams presented their QI projects and suggested interventions for the mock hospital problem case study.

Dr. Reed holds S.T. Harris Family Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine, in Honor of Gary Reed, M.D., and the Eva A. Rosenthal Professorship in Internal Medicine, in Honor of Gary Reed, M.D.