Laura Torbeck, School of Medicine
Principal Investigator: Laura Torbeck, associate professor of surgery, vice chair of education, School of Medicine
Project Title: Curriculum for the Integration of Advanced Practice Providers on Resident Surgical Inpatient Services
Funding Level: $5,000
Abstract:
Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) [nurse practitioners and physician assistants] are utilized by many programs across many specialties in academic health centers to assist with patient care voids associated with reduced resident work hours. Their integration has been primarily to serve as a stable nucleus for health care teams to assure greater continuity and quality of care. This project focuses on the integration of APPs into the work flow and team dynamics of surgical inpatient services that are largely resident based. APPs have proven to be an effective solution to assuring greater continuity and quality of care; however, their integration into surgical resident services should be improved to ensure the maintenance of resident education integrity with maximizing the value and contribution of APPs. Because APPs are trained more as generalists when they graduate, plans to develop a surgical APP curriculum have been enacted to strengthen the incorporation of APPs into surgical inpatient teams to allow for improved patient care as well as improved resident and APP job satisfaction. A project team was convened prior to this grant submission to begin to determine what components should be incorporated into the surgical curriculum for APPs. Therefore, the purpose of this Curriculum Enhancement Grant is to seek help with developing an innovative way of packaging and delivering a surgical curriculum (a portal of some sort?) that APPs can effectively utilize.
