CLER Focus Areas
Patient Safety (PS)
The clinical learning environment in which learners participate should continuously engage residents/fellows in the clinical site’s efforts to address patient safety. Each clinical site has processes to identify and implement sustainable, systems-based improvements to address patient safety. This includes the resident/fellow engagement and participation in interprofessional teams as part of ongoing efforts to deliver quality patient care.
Residents and fellows complete the core curriculum, receive education in Patient Safety, and participate in a Root Cause Analysis Assignment.
Health Care Quality (HQ)
The clinical learning environment in which learners participate should provide experiential and interprofessional training in all phases of quality improvement. This will ensure that residents/fellows engage with the entire cycle of quality improvement, from planning through implementation and reassessment.
To ensure residents and faculty are prepared for Healthcare Quality, KCU residents/fellows, complete the core curriculum, receive education in Quality Improvement, and participate in blended Quality Improvement/Research Project(s).
Teaming (T)
The clinical learning environment in which learners participate should support high-performance teaming. Teaming is the concept of many individuals of the clinical care team coming together in the course of providing patient care to achieve outstanding results. Teaming entails purposeful interactions in which team members quickly identify and capitalize on professional strengths while coordinating care.
To ensure faculty and residents understand the importance of “teaming” and the influence on quality patient care, faculty and residents/fellows complete the following online American Medical Association (AMA) modules: Creating an Effective and Respectful Learning Environment; Conflicts of Interest; Cultural Competency; and Working Effectively Within an Interprofessional Team.
Supervision (S)
The clinical learning environment in which learners participate should provide all members of the clinical care team and patients with mechanisms to raise supervision concerns. Resident/Fellow supervision must be continuously monitored to implement actions that enhance patient safety. Each residency program encompasses progressive levels of supervision throughout the educational program. Each program has a resident/fellow supervision policy that depicts the levels of supervision and progression of independence for each level of resident/fellow.
To ensure faculty and residents/fellows are aware of and understand supervision policies and how to raise concerns, each KCU program has an approved supervision policy on file, the annual ACGME Faculty and Resident/Fellow survey results are monitored for supervision concerns, and the Clinical Competency Committee determines resident/fellow progress for progression of independence. Faculty also complete the following online American Medical Association (AMA) modules: Facilitating an Effective "Residents as Teachers" Program, Identifying and Applying Wellness Strategies, Modeling a Supportive Learning Environment. Prioritizing Wellness for Yourself and Others, Supporting Resident Well –being, Health Care Quality: Measuring Physician Performance, Patient Handoffs.
Well-being (WB)
The clinical learning environment should be engaged in systematic and institutional strategies and processes to cultivate and sustain the well-being of faculty, residents/fellows, patients, and the entire clinical care team. The delivery of safe and high-quality patient care is rendered through the assurance of the well-being of the faculty and residents/fellows.
To ensure faculty and residents/fellows are engaged in strategies and processes to sustain well-being, faculty, and residents/fellows are provided with several wellness resources. Faculty and residents/fellows also complete the following online American Medical Association (AMA) modules: Sleep Deprivation: Your Life and Your Work; Thriving Through Residency: The Resilient Resident; Using Tools to Form an Action Plan for Wellness; and Physician Health: Physicians Caring for Ourselves. Furthermore, faculty and residents/fellows have access to a self-screening tool on our Well-Being Resources webpage.
Professionalism (PR)
The clinical learning environment in which residents/fellows participate should recognize that attitudes, beliefs, and skills related to professionalism directly impact the quality and safety of patient care. Each residency site has a mechanism in place for reporting concerns around professionalism, conducts a periodic assessment of concerns and potential vulnerabilities, and has an avenue for feedback and education related to resulting actions.
To ensure faculty and residents/fellows are able to recognize attitudes and beliefs and build skills related to professionalism, each KCU faculty and resident/fellow are provided training on professionalism. Lastly, faculty and residents/fellows complete online American Medical Association (AMA) modules on professionalism.