Quality improvement in neurological surgery graduate medical education.

There has been no formal, standardized curriculum for neurosurgical resident education in quality improvement. There are at least 2 reasons to integrate a formalized quality improvement curriculum into resident education: (1) increased emphasis on the relative quality and value (cost-effectiveness) of health care provided by individual physicians, and (2) quality improvement principles empower broader lifelong learning. An integrated quality improvement curriculum should comprise specific goals and milestones at each level of residency training. This article discusses the role and possible implementation of a national program for quality improvement in neurosurgical resident education.