Prevalence and Characteristics of House Staff Quality and Safety Councils Within Clinical Learning Environments: Results of a National Survey

House Staff Quality and Safety Councils (HQSCs) are relatively new multispecialty groups led by residents and fellows that focus on quality and safety activities at their training site. The authors sought to estimate the prevalence of HQSCs, describe their common characteristics and determine any perceived impacts. A national survey was conducted with Designated Institutional Officers (DIO) of graduate medical education programs in 2019. For institutions with an HQSC, a second survey was sent to program leaders to obtain additional details. Responses were obtained from 204 DIOs, 47% of whom currently have an HQSC. Forty-five percent of sites provided details about HQSC membership, leadership, funding, activities/initiatives, facilitators, and barriers. The majority reported positive program outcomes. This study found that HQSCs are common and share key characteristics, yet at the same time have many unique features tailored to their clinical learning environment. Participants report positive outcomes associated with these groups.