Section 4.4 of the curriculum refers to audit and guideline generation. It states:

• Audit is an essential component of the quality assurance of clinical practice and therefore of clinical governance. The Respiratory Medicine SAC strongly recommends that all trainees should undertake at least two audits in the specialty (Respiratory Medicine) during training. At least one of these should demonstrate effectiveness, ie have lead to change in practice that has been re-audited.
• Knowledge of national/international guidelines is essential for Consultant practice. Study of such guidelines is an important component of learning and participation in the local adaptation and implementation of guidelines provides an important opportunity for training.

There are a number of options for Respiratory trainees to get involved in audit and quality improvement. They key is to find an area you are truly interested in and in which you feel you can make a difference. Over the course of the training programme at least one audit or quality improvement project should be in GIM in addition to those in Respiratory Medicine. Some useful and inspiring resources are highlighted below:

• Quality Improvement for Health Professionals from the Health Foundation
• Learning to Make a Difference from the RCP
• How to lead a quality improvement project, from BMJ Careers
• International forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare conference
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement
• BTS National Audit Programme

Read our previous post on QIP for some ideas for interesting QIPs in Respiratory medicine.