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Office of Academic Affiliations

VA National Quality Scholars Fellowship Program

VA Advanced Fellowship Programs

NQSF Program | NSQF Fact Sheet

Program Vision
Clinicians today care for patients in increasingly complex organizations, yet very few physicians possess the knowledge, skills and methods needed to design, introduce, execute and evaluate sustainable improvement successfully in those settings.

A new program is needed to develop the physician scholars who will lead these efforts.

With its focus on quality care for a defined population of patients, its national health system delivery network, and its extensive experience in medical education and training, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) presents an optimal setting within which to seed the scholarly development of the improvement discipline. We are proud to initiate the VA National Quality Scholars Fellowship Program.

Thomas L. Garthwaite, M.D.
Under Secretary for Health
Department of Veterans Affairs

Join Us ...
"Through an innovative collaborative arrangement with Dartmouth Medical School's Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences, we have designed a unique model for teaching and learning about the improvement of health care. This program will advance the academic discipline of health care quality improvement. Join us in this exciting endeavor."

Stephanie H. Pincus, M.D., M.B.A.
Chief, Office of Academic Affilliations
Department of Veterans Affairs

"This unique program offers Quality Scholars an opportunity to participate in the redesign of health care in an integrated service delivery system. Through scholarly investigation, the fellows will advance the science and practice of the clinical improvement discipline and help define the future of health care."

Paul B. Batalden, MD, Professor and Director
Health Care Improvement Leadership Development
Center for Evaluative Clinical Sciences Dartmouth Medical School

For additional Information:

VA National Quality Scholars Program In collaboration with the CECS' Health Care Improvement Leadership Development, the Veterans Health Administration has created the VA National Quality Scholars (VAQS) Fellowship Program. The Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences (CECS) at Dartmouth, established in 1989, is a locus of scientists and clinician-scholars from Dartmouth's medical and graduate schools who conduct cutting edge research on critical medical and health issues with the goal of measuring, organizing, and improving the health care system.