Quality Improvement

Students of the Columbia Student Medical Outreach (CoSMO) clinic are constantly working to optimize clinic operations and deliver the safest and most efficient care for our patients. Both junior and senior medical students work together on the CoSMO Quality Improvement (QI) committee to identify areas of improvement within the clinic and implement plans to bring real-time change. Our members most recently presented their work at the Student-Run Free Clinics Conference in Mobile, Alabama, in March 2022. Some of our previous projects include the following.

Colon cancer screening

• Conducted a chart review of colon cancer screening rates in the CoSMO clinic population.
• The discovery of low follow-through has led to further investigation into the adherence rates of referrals made at CoSMO.

Attending recruitment

• Surveyed the perspectives of attending physician volunteers to implement changes to boost recruitment for CoSMO and potentially other student-run clinics.

Suicidality protocol

• Revised the suicidality protocols at the behavioral health clinic to enhance the awareness, screening, and management of suicidality.