{"id":146922,"date":"2025-05-23T12:38:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T16:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922//?p=146922"},"modified":"2025-05-28T16:05:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T20:05:00","slug":"ucf-hca-florida-healthcare-residents-lead-research-projects-to-enhance-patient-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922//ucf-hca-florida-healthcare-residents-lead-research-projects-to-enhance-patient-care/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922//","title":{"rendered":"UCF-HCA Florida Healthcare Residents Lead Research, Projects to Enhance Patient Care"},"content":{"rendered":"

Resident physicians, pharmacists and allied health trainees who care for Central Floridians gathered this month at the College of Medicine to share their research on making that care even better./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/n

The event was sponsored by the UCF-HCA Florida Healthcare Internal Medicine residency program, which provides care to patients at the Orlando VA Medical Center and HCA Florida Osceola Hospital. The residency is the inaugural program of the UCF-HCA Florida Health Graduate Medical Education Consortium, which will be training more than 720 residents and fellows across the state by this summer. Quality improvement (QI) and research are key components of that training as UCF, HCA and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are committed to creating physicians who are passionate about improving the quality of patient care./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/u201cToday is both a celebration and a recommitment /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/u2014 not just to data and outcomes, but to curiosity, persistence, teamwork and the humility to keep asking, /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/u2018How can we do better?/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/u2019 /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/u201d says Abdo Asmar, the College of Medicine faculty member leading the residency program./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/n

The event included poster and oral presentations and plenary remarks on leadership from Robert McDonald, former VA secretary./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/n

QI projects included solutions to a wide range of patient care issues, including foot and wound care for diabetics, better transitions from the hospital to home for those suffering from opioid overdoses and better ways to empower pharmacists to recognize possible negative drug interactions./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/u201cQuality improvement is a priority because it delivers better care to our patients,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/u201d says Shamol Williams, an academic physician at the Orlando VA who organized the event./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/n

Improving Care Through Better Processes/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/n

Danielle Pesavento, a podiatrist, focused her QI project on better ways to care for diabetic foot ulcerations /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/u2013 the leading cause of non-traumatic foot amputations./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/n

Her study found that as patients returned to the VA over time, they saw different physicians who were documenting their wounds in different ways. Providers seeing a patent for the first time might not have sufficient data to determine if the wound was getting worse and required a new course of treatment./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/n

Pesavento developed standards, trained nurses and worked with VA policies to create a system where photos are taken of the patient/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/u2019s foot wounds at every visit that include a ruler for scale and other details. The photos also were shared with patients, so they could see their progress and become more dedicated to following treatment protocols./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/u201cOur largest goal is to prevent limb loss,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/u201d she says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/u201cGetting patients to wear diabetic shoes or insoles can sometimes be a challenge. But when patients see the pictures of their wound, they become more aware of their condition and are more compliant with recommendations./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/n

The QI forum began with the inaugural internal medicine program and has now expanded to interdisciplinary healthcare specialists. Faddel Chouman is a resident in the UCF-HCA psychiatry residency that cares for patients at the VA and HCA Florida Osceola Hospital and will become chief resident of the program this summer. Chouman says he chose psychiatry because the specialty gives him the opportunity to spend time and talk to patients, to get to know them as people./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/146922/n