Celebrating Continuous Quality Improvement in Educational Program Design!

| September 20, 2018 | Print Article

Have you conducted your Annual Program Evaluation (APE) for 2017-2018? Was a laborious affair where it felt like all your warts were exposed and dissected? Did you leave that meeting feeling dejected and frustrated? APEs do not have to be only a review of negative. They can be a celebration of what is going right in your program and in every program there is always something going right. At my institution, we use the APE as an opportunity to invite anyone connected to the program in the institution to celebrate our successes as well as discuss potential action items for the next year. To lighten the mood, we have the audience sit at decorated round tables (plants with photos of the residents are the centerpieces), fill the rooms with balloons and serve cupcakes. We want to convey that the APE is a tool for continuous quality improvement in educational program design and that every incremental improvement is deserving of a celebration!