Quality Improvement

Nicklaus Children's Hospital GME Department has a structured Quality Improvement (QI) Curriculum for Residents, Fellows, and faculty development for faculty mentors. Trainees are expected to engaged in a self-generated and designed QI project during their training. The QI projects may follow PDSA, LEAN, Six Sigma, or other widely established QI methodologies. Trainees document their projects on a QI Project Documentation Form. Projects are presented in a QI forum using a QI Reporting Template and at the end of the academic year in the Annual Residents' and Fellows' Scholarship Day.

Below is a listing of our fellows' completed 2024-2025 QI projects:

TITLE FELLOWS & COLLABORATORS FACULTY MENTORS
Decrease the Prevalence of Hyperoxia in Critically Ill Children Nicole Sather, MD
Ped Critical Care Fellow
Kaitlin Kobaitri, DO
Keith Meyer, MD
Bala Totapally, MD
NCH PICU Extubation Readiness Guidelines Pooja Musuku, MD
Andrea Montano Ballesteros, MD

Ped Critical Care Fellows
Kaitlin Kobaitri, DO
Bala Totapally, MD
Implementation of High Flow Nasal Canula Weaning Protocol in a Tertiary Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Quality Improvement Initiative Ghanavi Kumaran, MD
Ped Critical Care Fellow
Kaitlin Kobaitri, DO
Implementing Metabolic Syndrome Screening in Adolescent Psychiatry Patients Russell Spotnitz, MD
Adarsh Shetty, MD
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellows
Americo Padilla, MD
Increasing Utilization of Ultrasound Guided Peripheral IV Access in the Pediatric Emergency Department Barbara Ximenez Braz, MD
Richard Ramirez, MD

Ped Emergency Medicine Fellows
Paul Khalil, MD
Implementing A Kawasaki Disease Pathway at Nicklaus Children's Hospital
MOC part 4 credit.
Jose Mario Ugarriza Mendoza, MD
Ped Cardiology Fellow

Mark Pilarski, DO
Pediatric Resident
Ryan Halickman, MD
Carolina Sanchez-Vegas, MD
Safety of Early Discharge After Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Surgery Stacey Podkovik, DO
Ped Neurosurgery Fellow
John Ragheb,MD
Kristen Stabingas, MD
Toba Niazi, MD
Pediatric Hospital Medicine QI in Billing and Coding to Improve Professional Pediatric Billing Post 2023 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Update Stephanie San Martin, MD
Ped Hospital Medicine Fellow
Melissa Clemente, MD
Veronica Etinger, MD

Protocolization of Workup for Suspected Physical Abuse in the Pediatric Population

Ameer Al-Hadidi, MD
Charissa Lake, MD

Pediatric Surgery Fellows
Patricio Lau, MD
Improving Understanding, Identification, And Treatment Of Anaphylaxis: A Quality Improvement Project Natalie Trotto, DO
Allergy-Immunology Fellow
Vivian Hernandez-Trujillo, MD
Jose Calderon, MD
Increasing resident medication safety incident reports Claudia Vega Castellvi, DO
Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellow
Melissa Clemente, MD
Christie de la Vega, DO
Kristen Post, CPN, BBA
Improving the quality of bowel preparation for patients undergoing pediatric colonoscopy using a standardized cleanout protocol at a Tertiary Care Center in South Florida.

Elizabeth Torres Claudio, MD
Ped Gastroenterology Fellow

Annette Medina, MD