Teachers of Quality Academy 8.0

On September 14, 2023, the Teachers of Quality Academy (TQA) program welcomed their seventh cohort of 37 scholars from ECU Health Physicians, ECU Health Medical Center, ECU Health North, ECU Health Chowan, and Contentnea Health. Additionally, the cohort includes participants from ECU’s Rural Family Medicine Residency Program, ECU Health’s Administrative Fellowship Program, and the MedServ Fellowship Program. TQA is led by Dr. Jennifer Sutter, Department of Pediatrics, and is jointly sponsored by ECU Health with Vice President of Quality, Lou Reida, serving as the executive sponsor for the program, and Jenna Garris, Office of Medical Education, serving as the administrative director responsible for program operation and administration.

TQA began in 2014, as a professional development program designed to provide health professions clinicians and educators with the skills necessary to practice, model and teach the new competencies of Health Systems Science (HSS): patient safety, quality improvement, systems thinking, population health and team-based care.

Participants in TQA are competitively selected based on individual applications and their potential to become change agents in the HSS competencies. TQA provides advanced training toward achieving a greater capacity to design and implement quality improvement activities and to apply these skills across the health system. Additional training in leadership of self, others, and leading change are included so participants can continue to advance the culture change needed to transform the delivery system.

The seventh iteration of the program is comprised of 12 half-day sessions alternating concepts of HSS and leadership development. A longitudinal wellness thread is woven into each learning session where participants engage in supplemental activities to further enhance the experience of life while at work. The TQA curriculum is delivered in an authentic setting using an experiential design. By designing experiences that span the continuum of professional development in clinical microsystems, participants are be better prepared to meet real-world challenges.

“I am excited to welcome this new cohort of TQA scholars as they begin their journey through the program.” Sutter said. “As leaders at ECU Health and in the community, our TQA 7.0 scholars serve as change agents in their clinical areas. The skills learned and the insight gained through this experience will help them build and lead more resilient teams and further promote a culture of change across the health system.”