Quality Improvement in Healthcare Certificate
The fastest route to quality improvement proficency
As a student in the certificate program, you will receive all of the following:
Eight online learning modules that can be taken at your convenience
Graded assignments and quizzes to reinforce key lessons
Tools and templates to move you smoothly through the QI project process
Eight one-hour one-on-one coaching sessions to optimize project outcomes at each phase
Permanent access to our community of practice
Course Preparation: Curriculum Overview, Topic Selection, and Problem Definition
Module 1: Problem Quantification and Goal Setting
Module 2: Root Cause Analysis - Hypothesis Generation & Stakeholder Engagement
Module 3: Root Cause Analysis - Hypothesis Validation
Module 4: Solution Generation, Prioritization, and Selection
Module 5: Improvement Science
Module 6: Measurement for Improvement
Module 7: Sustainability and Spread
Approximately one half-day per week will be required for project work and assignments in addition to 2 hours on the following dates:
Friday, July 18th 2025: Deadline to apply for September 2025 enrolment
Wednesday, September 3rd 2025: Curriculum begins, introductory live webinar
Thursday, January 8th 2026: Midterm presentations (live group webinar)
Thursday, May 7th 2026: Capstone presentations (live group webinar)
Express a clinical care gap in the form of an AIM statement
Design and execute a comprehensive root cause analysis
Generate solutions and map them onto root causes
Design a feasible implementation plan that accounts for local contextual factors
Design and implement authentic Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles
Design and execute a data collection strategy to rigorously demonstrate improvement over time
Design and execute a sustainability plan including ongoing stakeholder engagement
Avoid major pitfalls associated with QI projects
1. Identify course components and curriculum overview
2. List digital resources used for course content and project management
3. Identify major factors that predict the success and failure of QI initiatives
4. Apply a project selection framework to the proposed topic
5. Define a primary outcome measure
1. Differentiate quality improvement from research
2. Construct an AIM statement
3. Identify the role of ethics oversight in QI projects
4. Craft a compelling narrative to influence stakeholders
1. Design and execute an effective stakeholder engagement strategy
2. Generate hypotheses explaining the care gap by using a variety of QI tools
1. Utilize the literature review as a hypothesis generation tool
2. Validate hypotheses from Module 2 using the following tools: direct observation, Pareto analysis
1. Differentiate between a change concept and a change idea
2. List tools/methods that are used in each of the two distinct phases of the solution selection process (generation and prioritization)
3. Generate potential solutions that directly link to root causes
4. List the hierarchy of effectiveness of interventions
5. List general factors that contribute to the success or failure of solutions
6. Evaluate viability of potential solutions
1. Perform a context analysis and identify potential opportunities & threats to implementation
2. List & describe each category comprising the family of measures
3. List the elements of the Model for Improvement
4. Use the Plan-Do-Study-Act framework to plan for iterative tests of change
1. Describe the rationale for displaying data over time
2. Construct a run chart
3. Construct a statistical process control chart
1. Identify reasons why performance can regress to baseline
2. Design a sustainability plan (documentation, education/training, monitoring, response)
3. Extract and share project lessons beyond the project team
Alan Gob
Tuition is $4995 + HST for the nine-month course.