Educational Innovations Grants Program

Cycle IV

Developing & pilot testing training materials for residents and fellows for best practices for quality improvement and healthcare delivery science, with attention to healthcare disparities

Kathleen Fairfield, MD, MPH, DrPH

Division of Applied Healthcare Delivery Science, Department of Medicine, Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation

Our proposed project addresses a critical gap in medical education, namely that learners are engaging in quality improvement and healthcare delivery science projects without access to high-quality instruction and tools. We propose to develop a comprehensive set of educational materials for learners to access for just-in-time training prior to starting projects in quality improvement (QI) and healthcare delivery science.

Multimodal evaluation of an inter-professional communication skills training

Rebecca Hutchinson, MD, MPH

Maine Medical Center Division of Palliative Medicine and Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation

This project seeks to implement a novel multifaceted communication skills training program for providers in the cardiac intensive care unit and utilize objective tools to assess the effectiveness of this training on provider and patient-based outcomes.

Distance Learning with ECHO Teledermoscopy

Elizabeth V. Seiverling, MD

Maine Medical Partners Dermatology, Maine Medical Center Division of Dermatology, Tufts University School of Medicine

This project will study the impact of adding project ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes) teledermoscopy to live training to determine if this addition increases dermoscopy use, confidence in skin cancer detection skills and knowledge retention.

Implementation of a Spaced Learning Application for General Surgery Residents

Christopher Turner, MD, MPH

Assistant Program Director General Surgery Maine Medical Center

This pilot project is specific to general surgery residents and utilizes a spaced learning application to teach fundamental topics in preparation for their American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination (ABSITE). Junior and senior residents will each create a deck of digital cards that covers a level-appropriate general surgery textbook. The correlation between their use of the product and an improvement in their ABSITE will be determined. The final product of digital cards will be available to future residents in general surgery.