Student-faculty co-creation of experiential learning in health systems science

Abstract

Introduction

Health Systems Science (HSS) teaches students critical skills to navigate complex health systems, yet medical schools often find it difficult to integrate into their curriculum due to limited time and student disinterest. Co-developing content with students and teaching through appropriate experiential learning can improve student engagement in HSS coursework.

Methods

Medical students and faculty co-developed a patient outreach initiative during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and integrated that experience into a new experiential HSS elective beginning May 2020. Students called patients identified as high-risk for adverse health outcomes and followed a script to connect patients to healthcare and social services. Subsequently, this initiative was integrated into the required third-year primary care clerkship.

Results

A total of 255 students participated in HSS experiential learning through the elective and clerkship from May 2020 through July 2021. Students reached 3,212 patients, encountering a breadth of medical, social, and health systems issues; navigated the EMR; engaged interdisciplinary professionals; and proposed opportunities for health systems improvement.

Discussion and conclusion

This educational intervention demonstrated the opportunity to partner with student-led initiatives, coproducing meaningful educational experiences for the learners within the confines of a busy medical curriculum.

Keywords:

• Medicine
• medical education research
• education environment
• curriculum infrastructure
• instructional design

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Executive Director of Strategy & Population Health at Grady Memorial Hospital, Leslie Marshburn, MPH, MBA, and Jvion analytics for their involvement and assistance in making the outreach initiative possible. Additionally, thank you to the other student leaders who made this inter-institutional project a reality: Georges Bouobda Tsemo, Carson Ward, and Anjali Om.

Disclosure statement

The author(s) report no declarations of interest.

Glossary

Health Systems Science: The third pillar of medical education, adding to the traditional basic and clinical sciences. HSS aims to teach learners the methods and principles of improving quality, outcomes, and costs of health care for patients and populations within medical care systems. HSS has been divided into six core domains, including health care structures and processes; health care policy, economics, and management; clinical informatics and health information technology; population and public health; value-based care; and health system improvement. Five cross-cutting domains include leadership and change agency; teamwork and interprofessional education; evidence-based medicine and practice; professionalism and ethics; and scholarship. Systems thinking is the cross-linking domain (Gonzalo 2017).

Experiential learning: The process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience (Maudsley and Strivens 2000).

Coproduction model for education: Coproduction in health professions education recognizes the expertise of the learner and their knowledge of their own goals and priorities in the creation of curricula. Through a focus on learner-teacher partnerships in curricular design, implementation, and evaluation, the unique expertise of each party is utilized, learners are empowered, and desired education outcomes are better achieved (Könings 2020).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alyssa R. Greenhouse

Alyssa R. Greenhouse is a dual degree MD/MPH student, Emory University School of Medicine, Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Rebecca S. Goldstein

Rebecca S. Goldstein, MPH, is a medical student, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Cinnamon D. Bradley

Cinnamon D. Bradley, MD, is a professor of medicine, Division of Internal Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Nathan O. Spell

Nathan O. Spell, MD, is a professor of medicine and associate dean of education and professional development, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Jennifer O. Spicer

Jennifer O. Spicer, MD, MPH, is an assistant professor of medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Maura R. George

Maura R. George, MD, is an associate professor, Division of General Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.