Perioperative Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (MSH)

The Department of Anesthesia at Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, will offer a one-year fellowship in perioperative quality improvement and patient safety (QIPS). The goal of the fellowship is to provide anesthesiologists with the necessary knowledge and skills to plan, execute, and lead QIPS initiatives as part of their clinical and academic careers. The fellowship will start in July/August to coincide with a year-long quality improvement methodology curriculum.

Mount Sinai Hospital is a tertiary academic centre of excellence affiliated with the University of Toronto. It has a strong cohort of multidisciplinary quality improvement leaders with peer-reviewed QIPS publications. The fellowship is salaried and includes research and clinical work within the department.

Clinical responsibilities

Surgical cases in the operating room consist of general surgery, orthopedics, plastics, gynecology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, dentistry, urology, and major oncological surgery. Fellows will be taking 16-hour in-house calls with staff and residents, covering both the operating rooms for emergency surgeries and Labour and Delivery. Fellows will get one protected day per week to focus on their QIPS projects and academic work.

Fellowship Objectives:

1. Demonstrate competence in perioperative quality improvement frameworks and methodologies. This will be accomplished via on-site didactic teaching, an off-site year-long curriculum, as well as web modules.
2. Participate in institutional and city-wide perioperative quality improvement initiatives.
3. Plan and execute, with appropriate supervision, at least two perioperative QIPS projects.
4. Participate in national QIPS initiatives should the opportunity present itself.
5. Contribute to postgraduate resident education in perioperative QIPS.
6. Participate and lead institutional morbidity and mortality rounds and formulate action plans for relevant patient safety-related adverse events.

Eligibility and Requirements

• All applicants must satisfy fellow requirements as per the university department (http://www.anesthesia.utoronto.ca/edu/fellowship.htm).
• Candidates should have a minimum of 30 months of training completed in clinical anesthesia and have passed all certification exam(s) required for the specialty of anesthesia in their own country.
• Applicants must be eligible for registration with Post Graduate Medical Education at the University of Toronto. (http://www.pgme.utoronto.ca/content/fellowship-training-international-applicants) and for a postgraduate medical education license with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
• American applicants should preferably have passed their ABA exams, although consideration will be given to those who are board-eligible. Preference will be given to applicants who are within 7 years of completing their training.
• Applicants who have just graduated from a 3-year anesthesia training program are encouraged to complete at least a year of independent practice or a fellowship elsewhere. Preference will be given to applicants who fulfill this requirement.

Direct inquiries to:

Yehoshua (Josh) Gleicher, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Mount Sinai Hospital
600 University Avenue
Toronto, ON M5G 1X5
P: (416) 586-4800 x5270
E: josh.gleicher@sinaihealthsystem.ca