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 2025-2026 QI projects:

TITLE FELLOWS & COLLABORATORS FACULTY MENTORS
Assessing Diagnostic Yield of Prolonged Ambulatory EEG's J. Brooks Becton, MD
Clinical Neurophysiology Fellow
Marytery Fajardo, MD
Matt Lallas, MD
Use of ER EEGs for Pediatric Patients with New-Onset Seizures Kirsten Consing, DO
Clinical Neurophysiology Fellow
Claudia Francia, MD
Child Neurology Resident
Sayed Naqvi, MD
Enhancing Resident Education in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry:
Standardizing and Strengthening the Didactic Curriculum
Amal Chaudhary, MD
Michelina Pando, MD
Mariam Shaw, MD
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellows
Nicole Redondo, MD
Ines Alvarado
Monica Martinez
Assessing Bladder Volume using POCUS to Improve Urine Catheterization in the Pediatric Emergency DepartmentMOC part 4 credit. Jonathan Creech, MD
Callie Alt, MD
Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellows
Paul Khalil, MD
Empowering Healthcare Workers: Integrating PGX Testing into Patient Care on 6 Tower Lilibet Fernandez Valdes, MD
Laura Geroy Fleites, MD
Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Fellows
Abdullah Alghannami, MD
Pediatric Resident
Ziad Khatib, MD
Ossama Maher, MD
Implementing A Kawasaki Disease Pathway at Nicklaus Children'sMOC part 4 credit. Jose Mario Ugarriza Mendoza, MD
Ped Cardiology Fellow

Andres Vargas, MD
Pediatric Resident
Ryan Halickman, MD
Carolina Sanchez-Vegas, MD
Increasing the compliance of use of oral care in mechanically ventilated patients admitted to the Pediatric ICU Anushree Malhotra-Hans, MD
Ped Critical Care Medicine Fellow
Kaitlin Kobaitri, DO
Reducing Inpatient-to-Observation Downgrades Through Multidisciplinary Education and Guideline Alignment: A Pediatric Hospital Medicine Quality Improvement InitiativeMOC part 4 credit. Alejandra Frauenfelder-Sanchez, MD
Ped Hospital Medicine Fellow
Beatriz Franyie-Ladd, MD
Surgical Preoperative Checklist Charissa Lake, MD
Pediatric Surgery Fellow
Fuad Alkhoury, MD
Heart Notes: Streamlining Documentation in the Cardiac ICU Kara Gay-Simon, MD
Kathryn Forbes, MD
Pediatric Cardiology Fellows
Stacie Peddy, MD
Assessing the educational impact of neurosurgical illustration in medical brochures: A within-subject comparative study Meleine Landry Konan, MD
Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellow
Robert Buckley, MD
Pediatric Cervical Spine Imaging: The Future of Quality Improvement in Radiation Stewardship Geoffrey Miller, DO
Ped Radiology Fellow
Santiago Medina, MD
NCH PICU Extubation Readiness Guidelines Andrea Montano Ballesteros MD
Rebecca Basch MD
Ped Critical Care Medicine Fellows
Kaitlin Kobaitri, DO
Balagangadhar Totapally, MD
Screening Protocol for Infants with Suspected Inborn Errors of Metabolism Matthew Federici, MD
Ped Cardiology Fellow
Sajel Lala, MD
Dr. Costa-Cruz
Implementation of a Penicillin Allergy Delabeling Pathway in the Pediatric Emergency Department Nolan Nielsen, MD
Ped Emergency Medicine Fellow
Paul Khalil, MD
David Lowe, MD
Michelle Blumstein, MD
Eliminating Routine Immediate Post-Operative Chest X-Ray to Reduce Reported Pneumothorax After Posterior Spinal Fusion for Idiopathic Scoliosis Bicheng Yong, MD
Pediatric Ortho Spine Fellow
Jaime Gomez, MD
Stephen George, MD
Subaraman Ramchandran, MD
Implementing an endoscopic scoring system for endoscopic evaluation in patients with EOEMOC part 4 credit. Martin Varea Romo, MD
Ariel Collazo Lamb MD
Pediatric Gastroenterology Fellows
 
Daniela Ramirez, MD
Christian Martinez, MD
Pediatric Residents
Elizabeth Torres, MD
Annette Medina, MD
Luis Caicedo, MD
Inpatient Penicillin Allergy De-Labeling QI Project Jonathan Wan, DO
Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellow
Amanda VonKaenel, DO
Pediatric Allergy-Immunology Fellow
Melissa Clemente, MD
Grace Padron, MD
Vivian-Hernandez-Trujillo, MD
Improving Sepsis Recognition and Treatment in the NCH PICU Victoria Waskiel, MD
Ped Critical Care Medicine Fellow
Kaitlin Kobaitri, DO
Prithvi Sendi, MD