The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) offers a one-year full time fellowship in Perioperative Management, Quality, and Safety starting July 1, 2019. Up to three positions are available annually. The principles and practice of process improvement, quality, and safety, particularly as applied to the complex perioperative environment, are the focus of this program. The Perioperative Safety Fellows (program started 2016) are an integral part of the perioperative leadership group at HUP. They are involved in the hands-on investigation, analysis, and process improvement plan for all significant patient quality and safety issues in the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative (PACU) areas. HUP perioperative services encompasses 40 operating rooms (inpatient and outpatient) and 10 endoscopy rooms, performing over 60,000 procedures annually. Graded supervision is provided by dedicated on site faculty and staff from surgery, anesthesia and nursing with special experience and knowledge in safety, quality, and perioperative patient care. The structured curriculum, developed and taught by Penn faculty, includes readings, seminars, training, and projects designed to educate fellows regarding (inter alia): clinical errors and human factors engineering, root cause analysis, process improvement, measurement of clinical quality, six sigma, team training, in-situ simulation and change management. Fellows are also intimately involved in other important aspects of perioperative management including supply chain, scheduling, personnel, materials management and clinical engineering.
Applicants should envision a clinical career trajectory that would include administration and/or management in perioperative services. Operating room experience is mandatory, and candidates from anesthesia (including CRNA), surgery, nursing and physician assistants are welcome. Physician candidates must have completed two years of training in an ACGME approved program and those who have completed an Anesthesiology residency will have the opportunity to work clinically 20% of their time in order to maintain clinical proficiency and salary support. Interested qualified candidates should contact the Fellowship Director Daniel Dempsey, MD, MBA at daniel.dempsey@pennmedicine.upenn.edu as well John Keogh, MD, Anesthesiology Safety Fellowship Associate Director, at john.keogh@pennmedicine.upenn.edu