Safa Farrag, MD, and Patricia Litkowski, MD Attend Vanderbilt Course on Professionalism

The “Promoting Professionalism” course was held by Vanderbilt University Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy in Nashville, Tennessee on October 28-29, 2024. The course focused on the appropriate steps an organization can take when individual or group behaviors hinder efforts to establish a safe and respectful environment. Safa Farrag, MD, and Patricia Litkowski, MD, were both encouraged to attend as members of the division’s leadership team, as well as the Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Committee.

We learned different approaches to interact with different behavior concerns, with a framework to handle them through the professionalism pyramid.”

Safa Farrag, MD

Dr. Farrag stated, “It was a rich 2-day, hands-on experience on addressing behaviors that undermine a culture of safety and respect. We learned different approaches to interact with different behavior concerns, with a framework to handle them through the professionalism pyramid, which is a stepwise approach to different levels of concerning behaviors, and how to intervene to each level.”

They are excited to share their knowledge with the division, and to help implement these processes to enhance safety culture and improve quality of care.