Educating to improve patient care: integrating quality improvement into a medical school curriculum.

A curriculum focused on disease and the management of disease is no longer adequate for training physicians who are expected to practice in an environment where medical errors, system shortcomings, and physician and practice scorecards are the norm. This article describes a longitudinal curriculum on quality improvement that was integrated into the existing curriculum at Mayo Medical School, from years I through IV, through collaboration with 13 different course and clerkship directors. The curriculum is being taught through exercise-based discussions, video sessions followed by debriefing, simulations, case-based discussions, and lectures. This curriculum prepares physicians in training to be knowledgeable about common systems issues and medical errors in clinical practice and has the potential for application in undergraduate medical education.