QEP Topic Selection Process

Slide 1: UTHSC Intro Slide
Welcome to the third and final presentation on the UTHSC Quality Enhancement Plan. In Presentation 1, we focused on the description of the plan, Presentation 2 provided an overview of the development of the plan, and this final presentation will highlight the five potential QEP topics for our campus.

Slide 2: Title Slide
The QEP Steering Committee is pleased to provide descriptions of the five potential topic areas for the QEP. You may have been seen parts of this presentation before and may have seen signs and announcements about these topics across the campus.

Slide 3: UTHSC’s Five Potential Topics
The Steering Committee proposed five topics and we'll spend the next few minutes describing each.

Slide 4: Cultural Competence
The first topic is cultural competence. Memphis & Shelby County have significant health disparities. Higher rates of death, disease, and disability are particularly found among populations of color and the poor. Research shows that the most meaningful way to improve health outcomes is to address the cultural competence of healthcare providers. A sample student learning outcome for this topic would be: for students to understand the relationships among race and ethnicity, social class, disability status, gender, sexual orientation, age, and religion on health beliefs, practices, status, and outcomes.

Slide 5: Leadership in Healthcare
Healthcare is an ever-changing landscape confronted with varying workforce, consumer, fiscal, and quality challenges. Effective leadership is a key ingredient to ensuring a high-quality health delivery system. UTHSC students can emerge as leaders when development of leadership skills is targeted in a systematic way. One of the sample learning outcomes for this topic would be: develop a personal profile for leadership traits and goals for future leadership development.

Slide 6: Professionalism
Health care professionals face ethical dilemmas every day. It is essential students develop skills to assume the mantle of professionalism required by their disciplines. These professions have identified a need for improvement in the level of professional behavior of their respective members. Education regarding professionalism begins in the academic programs. The purpose of this QEP would be to study the issue of professionalism across all academic disciplines; identify areas of commonality that need improvement; then develop and implement recommendations for intervention; assess the outcomes; and modify the program as indicated. A sample student learning outcome would be to develop strategies that will support lifelong ethical leadership in their careers and communities.

Slide 7: Social Determinants of Health
Social and economic factors can interfere with good health. Safety in the community, access to healthy food, availability of safe housing, and adequate public transportation all affect health status. There is a growing realization that the traditional “medical model” of care is inadequate for improving overall health in a population and reducing health disparities and inequities. Our graduates under this topic would leave with knowledge of health disparities and the need for continued learning in cultural competence. They could become community leaders to help find solutions to the challenges faced by citizens who live in poverty. The QEP would involve development of a Social Determinants of Health curriculum customized to our campus and the Shelby County community. We would identify key social factors that create barriers to achieving improved health outcomes, create metrics to determine effectiveness of our approach, and measure student satisfaction. A sample student learning outcome would be: to demonstrate knowledge of health disparities, their impact on health and strategies for elimination of disparities.

Slide 8: Wellness & Resilience
Many barriers can negatively impact or hinder student retention in higher education. This can be magnified for students and professionals in health sciences. Healthcare professionals need to develop strategies that foster healthy lifestyles that encourage successful careers and professional life. A focus on wellness and resilience can lessen the impact of stressors associated with the rigors of the academic and clinical curricula and the demands of the health professions. Fostering wellness and resilience could enhance students’ psychosocial functioning and skill mastery during their academic careers and beyond. Institutions play an integral role in preparing students not only for the explicit curriculum but also those silent factors that are needed to be successful professionally and personally. A sample student learning outcome for this topic would be to develop strategies for organization and motivation to ensure academic success.

Slide 9: Closing Slide
Topic selection will be made after receiving feedback from the campus regarding the preferred topic. Interested students, faculty and staff should visit the QEP website at uthsc.edu/qep. Click on the VOTE HERE BUTTON to cast your vote between now and September 30. Thank you.