QIPS Scholar Award

For questions, contact: I-QIPS Team

About the Award

The Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (QIPS) Scholar Award serves to recognize the commitment and active involvement of BCM faculty and staff in quality improvement/patient safety (QI/PS) projects conducted across the College and/or affiliate institutions. Further, this criterion-based award identifies those who have made substantive contributions in one or more areas of QI/PS scholarship and innovation.

Receiving the award can support one's candidacy for promotion with an emphasis in quality improvement/patient safety.

Award Recipients

Congratulations to the QIPS Scholar Award - 2025 Recipients on their outstanding achievement.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

DEADLINE: Sunday, February 1, 2026 @ 11:59 PM CT
Only fully completed applications received by the indicated deadline will be considered.

Applications for the 2026 QIPS Scholar Award cycle are open.

Information about the award, including application guidelines and instructions, is provided below.

Application Guidelines

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

In order to submit an application, ALL of the following requirements must be met:

You must be a current faculty or staff employee at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) or a BCM-affiliated institution.
You must demonstrate in your award application your sustained involvement in Quality Improvement or Patient Safety domains.
You must have at least five (5) years of quality improvement/patient safety (QI/PS) experience at BCM or a BCM-affiliated institution.
You may self-nominate for the award. However, your nomination must be approved and confirmed by your section chief, chair, medical director, or center director via the Nomination Letter (see "Submission Components" section below).

BCM faculty or staff with QI/PS experience can receive a QIPS Scholar Award by demonstrating contributions in one or more of the following QI/PS scholarship areas:

Clinical QI Application - Implementation, Dissemination, and Impact Assessment of a Healthcare Innovation
Teaching and Coaching - Education, Training, Coaching, Mentoring, and Development of Enduring Educational Products
Administrative Leadership - Guideline and Policy Improvement, Formal Leadership in Quality Improvement or Patient Safety
QI Scholarship - Research and Scholarly Products

Note: A QIPS Scholar Award recipient may receive the award more than once. A new nomination may be submitted any time after five (5) years since their previous award.

Information to Exclude: As you prepare the application components listed below, please keep in mind that NO submitted items should include any patient letters (current or historical letters, notes, cards, or documents from patients/patients’ family members), regardless of any redaction made to personal information.
However, it is acceptable to include historical letters or documents that have been received in the past from nurses, trainees, and/or employees/staff. Applicants will be required to ensure and attest that any such support letters or documents do not contain references to any patient information or identifiers AND that any personal information related to peers or colleagues have been redacted.

SUBMISSION COMPONENTS

A complete QIPS Scholar Award Application should include all six (6) submission components listed below. The items should be saved as separate Adobe PDF files and uploaded to the QIPS Scholar Award Application for submission.

1. Nomination Letter*

The nomination letter should be from your section chief, chair, medical director, or center director.

Note: You may self-nominate for the award. However, your nomination must be approved and confirmed by one of the above individuals via the Nomination Letter.

2. Letter(s) of Recommendation* (maximum 3 letters)

The letter(s) of recommendation should be from providers, institutional leaders, consultants, administrators, and/or community leaders. Further, the letter(s) should reflect diverse viewpoints, describing your QI/PS excellence from a variety of perspectives.

Note: Each letter should be saved as a separate Adobe PDF file for submission. The Nomination Letter and a Letter of Recommendation cannot be provided by the same person.

*Nomination Letter & Letters of Recommendation:

Applicants are required to obtain and upload their Nomination Letter and Letter(s) of Recommendation to their QIPS Scholar Award Application. To ensure that these items are received in time to meet the application deadline, you are encouraged to solicit the letters as soon as possible. Only complete applications will be reviewed.

3. Personal Statement (500-word limit)

The personal statement should reflect your QI/PS expertise.

4. Curriculum Vitae

The CV should be current and presented in BCM CV format.

5. Healthcare Improvement Portfolio

The Healthcare Improvement Portfolio serves to reflect your excellence in QI/PS and should be prepared using the provided portfolio template.

Note: The submitted Healthcare Improvement Portfolio should be complete, with NO sections left blank. The portfolio will be used for rating and should be able to stand alone. For example, no reference statements, such as "please refer to CV" or "please see Personal Statement," etc., should be used in any section in lieu of an actual response. Incomplete portfolios may not be considered.

6. Supporting Material (10-page limit)

The supporting material should provide documentation of the activities described in your Healthcare Improvement Portfolio.

AWARD SELECTION CRITERIA

The QIPS Scholar Award is criterion-based. Each application will be evaluated per the QIPS Scholar Award Selection Rubric.
An application must be complete and submitted by the indicated deadline in order to be considered. A complete application should include all six (6) of the submission components listed in the section above.

APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS

The QIPS Scholar Award Application is comprised of the noted submission components (6 elements), all of which should be uploaded to the application form for submission.

Each submitted application is assessed via the following review process:

A preliminary review of the application is conducted to ensure it meets the eligibility and submission criteria.

The application is assigned to a primary, secondary, and tertiary reviewer.

During a panel meeting, the reviewers present the application and propose initial scores, based on established criteria. Following a discussion, all members of the Review Panel score the application.

A successful applicant is one for whom the average of all reviewer scores for their application is 85% or higher.

The review process and criteria for award are subject to review and modification or adjustment by the awarding body at any time and without prior notice.

Ready to Apply?

APPLICATION CHECKLIST

REVIEW ELIGIBILITY

Review the eligibility criteria for the QIPS Scholar Award to ensure that you meet the stated requirements to apply for the award.

PREPARE SUBMISSION COMPONENTS

Review the list of submission components for details regarding the requirements for each element.

All six (6) elements should be uploaded (as separate Adobe PDF files) to your QIPS Scholar Award Application for submission (Step 3 below).

Reminders:

Nomination Letter & Letters of Recommendation: Applicants are required to obtain and upload their Nomination Letter and Letter(s) of Recommendation to their QIPS Scholar Award Application. To ensure that these items are received in time to meet the application deadline, you are encouraged to solicit the letters as soon as possible. Only complete applications will be reviewed.

Information to Exclude: Submitted items should NOT include any patient letters (current or historical letters, notes, cards, or documents from patients/patients’ family members), regardless of any redaction made to personal information.
However, it is acceptable to include historical letters or documents that have been received in the past from nurses, trainees, and/or employees/staff. Applicants will be required to ensure and attest that any such support letters or documents do not contain references to any patient information or identifiers AND that any personal information related to peers or colleagues have been redacted.

SUBMIT APPLICATION FORM

Use the below button to access the QIPS Scholar Award Application.
To be considered, an application must be complete with all requested items and submitted by the indicated deadline.

First Time Accessing the Application?

The first time you access the application form, click "New User" to create an account using your email address (as your User ID) and a password. This will allow you to save and return to your application until you're ready to submit it.
Important: Accounts are form-specific. You must create a new account for this specific form, even if you have previously created one for another form on this platform.

Reminder:

When completing the QIPS Scholar Award Application, you will be required to upload all six (6) submission components.
Each element should be uploaded to the application form as a separate Adobe PDF file for submission.