Residents actively participate in scholarly work and quality improvement projects within the clinic and larger health system.  Examples include resident case presentations, journal club sessions, poster presentations at national conferences, and opportunities to join interdisciplinary Kaiser Permanente teams creating and updating evidence-based care guidelines.  In the third year, residents participate in a structured scholarly activity project reviewing and critically appraising a journal article, leading to a publication. Other opportunities for scholarly work include independent research, working with core faculty, and partnering with our nationally recognized Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute.

Resources for scholarly work are plentiful. Core faculty and Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute provide one-on-one research mentoring. Our faculty have a direct connection with the Kaiser Permanente Medical Foundation Population Health team, which allows residents to learn about guideline development and ongoing quality improvement projects at the institutional level to improve the delivery of care. Our Medical Library offers literature searching, databases, books, journals, full-text retrieval, and clinical reference tools. Residents also have full access to the University of Washington School of Medicine's academic and clinical resources. Funding for presenting research at local or national conferences is supported by the Kaiser Permanente Foundation.