Article Title

Surgeon Speaks: Karen A. Chojnacki, MD, FACS

Authors

Karen A. Chojnacki, MD, FACS

Associate Professor Program Director, General Surgery Residency

In the Department of Surgery, our residents have always been involved in some projects focused on quality and patient safety. With Quality Based Improvement Resident Teams (QBIRT), we’ve formalized and expanded those efforts – making these initiatives an integral part of our six-year residency.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) now requires every resident to be involved in a quality and safety improvement project. Jefferson’s Department of Surgery is meeting that requirement by placing each resident on a team that spends several years tackling a quality or safety measure. Our residents are addressing a range of important challenges, and some are already influencing changes in how we deliver care.

For our residents, these experiences are important for building a quality and safety mindset and creating a solid foundation for ongoing contributions throughout their careers as surgeons. Of course, this work is also highly beneficial to our hospital and our patients. Though still relatively new, these projects are already making an impact in terms of understanding challenges, studying possible solutions and translating those into measurable improvements in care delivery.

Recommended Citation

(2015) "Surgeon Speaks: Karen A. Chojnacki, MD, FACS," Jefferson Surgical Solutions: Vol. 10: Iss. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://jdc.jefferson.edu/jss/vol10/iss1/2