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September 16, 2019

Twenty-one Saskatchewan health care professionals accepted for fourth round of in-depth quality improvement training program


Twenty-one health care professionals, including 15 physicians, two pharmacists, two nurse practitioners, one medical resident, and one pathologist assistant, will learn how to improve health care quality as part of the training program developed and hosted by the province’s Health Quality Council (HQC).

The group of clinicians is the fourth to take part in the 10-month Clinical Quality Improvement Program (CQIP), which teaches physicians and other health system professionals how to build quality improvement into their daily practice and to facilitate, coach, and teach quality improvement to others. As an applied learning program, every participant carries out a clinical improvement project in their work setting. The first learning lab for Cohort 4 participants took place on Friday, September 13th and Saturday, September 14th in Saskatoon.

Cohort 4 participants
  • Dr. Adewale Adeoye, physician, North Battleford
  • Dr. Hannah Buhariwalla, physician, Regina
  • Stephan Duchesne, pathologist assistant, Regina
  • Dr. Shazia Durrani, physician, Regina
  • Dr. Amanda Ellwood, physician, Regina
  • Dr. Samuel Fanous, physician, North Battleford
  • Dr. Andrea Fong, physician, Regina
  • Dr. Andrei Harabor, physician, Regina
  • Dr. Michael Kindrachuk, medical resident, Saskatoon
  • Dr. Kyle MacDonald, physician, Regina
  • Dr. Jonathan Mailman, pharmacist, Regina
  • Philip McGee, nurse practitioner, North Battleford
  • Dr. Ayla Mueen, physician, Saskatoon
  • Dr. Rae Petrucha, physician, Saskatoon
  • Dr. Bonnie Richardson, physician, Regina
  • Dr. Jennifer Shi, physician, Saskatoon
  • Leland Sommer, nurse practitioner, Regina
  • Amy Soubolsky, pharmacist, North Battleford
  • Dr. Alanna Surkan, physician, Prince Albert
  • Dr. Ron Taylor, physician, Regina
  • Dr. Sinisa Zerajic, physician, Saskatoon

CQIP participants are selected based on their prior experience with quality improvement, feasibility of their proposed improvement project, support from their home organization for their improvement project, and the extent to which that project aligns with health system priorities.

Clinicians accepted into Cohort 4 cite a number of reasons for getting involved in CQIP:

  • “I hope that participating in CQIP will help channel my motivation in effective ways and equip me to promote meaningful change. By learning to incorporate clinical quality improvement in my everyday practice, I want to improve processes for the sake of the people.” Amy Soubolsky, pharmacist, North Battleford
  • “Being passionate is not enough. I want to learn the skills to lead our rehabilitation team towards successful outcomes. The structure of CQIP, learning through doing with the support of experts in QI and a peer group, is the perfect way to learn for me. I feel very fortunate to have to opportunity to participate in this program.” Jennifer Shi, physician, Saskatoon

Modelled on the internationally recognized mini-Advanced Training Program at Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, Saskatchewan’s CQIP program combines classroom and online learning with individual coaching and a community of practice. CQIP is accredited by the CFPC and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. In 2018, the program received two thumbs up from an external evaluation conducted by Dr. Lois Berry.

One of the program aims is for participants to continue to lead quality improvement within the Saskatchewan health care system after completion of the program. Alumni are doing so by contributing to the program as faculty or coaches, working in formal leadership roles in the system, and supporting quality improvement learning.

A number of Saskatchewan’s health care system partners collaborate to make the program possible: the Ministry of Health and the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA) fund the program through a partnership and the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) provides in-kind support for each participant’s quality improvement project.

Cohort 3 wrapped up last June with 25 clinicians completing the QI training.

HQC accelerates improvement in health care by building improvement capability and spreading innovation across the province, through education, improvement initiatives, and research.

For more information, contact:

Heidi Abramyk 
Manager, Marketing and Communications (HQC)
306-668-8810 ext. 112 (office)
habramyk@hqc.sk.ca

Girard Hengen
Communications Advisor (Saskatchewan Medical Association)
306-657-4596 (office)
girard.hengen@sma.sk.ca