Innovation in medical education: how Linköping created a Blue Ocean for medical education in Sweden

Abstract

Background: The Linköping Health University is an example of a medical school which has succeeded, not only with a major curricular change, transforming itself into a problem-based learning school, but also in contributing to innovations in medical education.

Aims: To analyse the Linköping example in order to better understand how to succeed with innovations in medical education.

Method: By applying a framework developed within the strategic management literature to the case study, the authors hope to understand how this innovation was achieved.

Results: Linköping Health University was able to break boundaries and create a divergent profile through eliminating, reducing, raising, and creating different aspects of the curricula.

Conclusions: A strategic management framework can be applied to medical education to better understand innovation. The authors discover that many of the later innovations were in fact more aimed at sustaining the initial innovation rather than creating new trends. It remains unclear from the case study how to stimulate innovation without the use of fear or threats.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carl Savage

CARL SAVAGE is a PhD student at the Medical Management Centre, Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Mats Brommels

MATS BROMMELS MD, PhD is professor and director of the Medical Management Centre at the Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, also affiliated with the Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland.