Department of Medicine Excellence Award

 In 2007, Dr. Rossi-Foulkes received the Department of Medicine Excellence Award in Clinical Care and Education for the ambulatory quality initiative project based at the combined Med-Peds faculty-resident continuity practice. The award supports safety, and quality initiatives undertaken by residents and faculty based at the practice as well as resident education and faculty development. There are three goals of the initiative:

  1. To improve resident satisfaction with ambulatory training and comfort with ambulatory issues
  2. To improve patient satisfaction
  3. To improve patient outcomes

We have documented success in all three areas.  This work has culminated in abstract and oral presentations at both local and national meetings. The actual interventions have been both resident and faculty driven. The award continues to provide finalizing for our Quality Improvement Initiatives and Curriculum.

Ambulatory Training and Continuity Practice

The home base for resident ambulatory Med-Peds training is the combined faculty-resident practice. The practice provides residents with a real-life community Med-Peds practice with a diverse patient panel. All of the preceptors are Med-Peds faculty. The practice is located at the Duchossis Center for Advanced Medicine in the Chicago south side.

In addition to spending one half day per week over four years at the practice, residents also have four, one-month long ambulatory rotations based there.  During these rotations, residents spend four half days per week at the practice seeing urgent and continuity patients, three half days per week attending ambulatory, evidence based medicine, and quality improvement lectures and workshops and have three half days per week that are flexible based on the resident’s interest.  Typically one half day is spent working on quality improvement projects and the other two half days can be spent in specialty clinics.  Popular clinics include joint injection and sports medicine clinics, as well as subspecialty clinics that are in line with the resident’s career goals.  During the ambulatory block, residents also attend the monthly staff meeting and attend seminars on practice management, billing, documentation, case conferences on challenging cases and other special ambulatory topics.  The practice is truly a resident-faculty-staff partnership with residents often partnering with nursing and clerical staff to accomplish initiatives.