title: Priority Areas and Potential Solutions for Successful Integration and Sustainment of Health Systems Science in Undergraduate Medical Education.
abstract: Educators, policy makers, and health systems leaders are calling for significant reform of undergraduate medical education (UME) and graduate medical education (GME) programs to meet the evolving needs of the health care system. Nationally, several schools have initiated innovative curricula in both classroom and workplace learning experiences to promote education in health systems science (HSS), which includes topics such as value-based care, health system improvement, and population and public health. However, the successful implementation of HSS curricula across schools is challenged by issues of curriculum design, assessment, culture, and accreditation, among others. In this report of a working conference using thematic analysis of workshop recommendations and experiences from 11 U.S. medical schools, the authors describe seven priority areas for the successful integration and sustainment of HSS in educational programs, and associated challenges and potential solutions. In 2015, following regular HSS workgroup phone calls and an Accelerating Change in Medical Education consortium-wide meeting, the authors identified the priority areas: partner with licensing, certifying, and accrediting bodies; develop comprehensive, standardized, and integrated curricula; develop, standardize, and align assessments; improve the UME to GME transition; enhance teachers' knowledge and skills, and incentives for teachers; demonstrate value added to the health system; and address the hidden curriculum. These priority areas and their potential solutions can be used by individual schools and HSS education collaboratives to further outline and delineate the steps needed to create, deliver, study, and sustain effective HSS curricula with an eye toward integration with the basic and clinical sciences curricula.
authors.affiliation: J.D. Gonzalo is assistant professor of medicine and public health sciences and associate dean for health systems education, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania. E. Baxley is senior associate dean of academic affairs, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina. J. Borkan is chair and professor of family medicine and assistant dean for primary care-population health program planning, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. M. Dekhtyar is research associate, Medical Education Outcomes, American Medical Association, Chicago, Illinois. R. Hawkins is vice president, Medical Education Outcomes, American Medical Association, Chicago, Illinois. L. Lawson is assistant dean for curriculum, assessment, and clinical academic affairs and assistant professor of emergency medicine, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina. S.R. Starr is assistant professor of pediatric and adolescent medicine and director of science of health care delivery education, Mayo Medical School, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota. S. Skochelak is group vice president of medical education, American Medical Association, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Jed D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Gonzalo
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baxley
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Borkan
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dekhtyar
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hawkins
authors.forename: Luan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lawson
authors.forename: Stephanie R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Starr
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Skochelak
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum / Q000639:trends*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D014481:United States