Lawson Luan, Charles Stephen C, Lake Donna, Hartman Laura, Reeder Timothy J, Garris Jenna, Lazorick Suzanne
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, McGlothlin Medical Education Center, 4th Floor, Room 4-220, 1201 East Marshall Street, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA.
Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA.
BMC Med Educ. 2025 May 14;25(1):703. doi: 10.1186/s12909-025-07108-8.
As healthcare systems grow increasingly complex, medical education must evolve to prepare future physicians to navigate and improve the environments in which they practice. Integrating Health Systems Science (HSS) into medical education is essential to equip learners with the mindset and skills needed to catalyze change and address systemic challenges. This transformation requires not only new knowledge but also the intentional development of a professional identity rooted in systems awareness and leadership.
The Brody School of Medicine established a three-year, longitudinal para-curricular program, the Health System Transformation and Leadership Distinction Track, known as Leaders in INnovative Care (LINC), starting the summer after the first year of medical school and continuing to graduation. LINC provides transformative curricular experiences that instill the HSS knowledge, skills, and mindset to develop students to become change agents and as future physician leaders for the changing environment. In-depth, semi-structured interviews of participants from the first two LINC cohorts were conducted to explore early impacts on participating students after completing the first year of this program. Qualitative analyses were conducted trom interview transcripts o determine emergent themes.
All scholars (n = 15) were interviewed at the end of their first year in the program. Five key themes emerged: 1) increased critical thinking, 2) leadership, 3) developing awareness of HSS, 4) career trajectory, and 5) a sense of connectedness. Students reported adopting a systems thinking perspective on healthcare, recognizing the interrelated components of the system and their role as physicians within it. The development of advanced skills, a sense of connection, and leadership qualities were evident early in the program, with learners perceiving that they view healthcare differently than peers.
Themes from this study suggest that the LINC program fostered critical thinking, leadership, and a systems perspective early in training. Enhanced educational experiences in HSS can accelerate professional identity formation as change agents, with the potential for curricular expansion to include all medical students. Future efforts are needed for advancing assessments, tracking longitudinal outcomes, and collaborating across institutions to identify best practices in developing medical students as "systems-citizens."
随着医疗保健系统日益复杂，医学教育必须不断发展，以使未来的医生能够应对并改善他们执业的环境。将健康系统科学（HSS）融入医学教育对于培养学习者的思维模式和技能至关重要，这些思维模式和技能是推动变革和应对系统性挑战所必需的。这种转变不仅需要新知识，还需要有意培养植根于系统意识和领导力的职业身份。
布罗迪医学院设立了一个为期三年的纵向课外项目，即健康系统转型与领导力卓越轨迹，称为创新护理领导者（LINC），从医学院第一年之后的那个夏天开始，一直持续到毕业。LINC提供变革性的课程体验，灌输HSS知识、技能和思维模式，以培养学生成为变革推动者以及适应不断变化环境的未来医生领导者。对前两批LINC学员进行了深入的半结构化访谈，以探讨该项目第一年结束后对参与学生的早期影响。对访谈记录进行定性分析以确定新出现的主题。
所有学者（n = 15）在项目的第一年结束时接受了访谈。出现了五个关键主题：1）批判性思维增强，2）领导力，3）对HSS的认识发展，4）职业轨迹，5）联系感。学生们报告说，他们对医疗保健采取了系统思维的视角，认识到系统的相互关联的组成部分以及他们作为医生在其中的角色。高级技能、联系感和领导素质在项目早期就很明显，学习者们认为他们对医疗保健的看法与同龄人不同。
本研究的主题表明，LINC项目在培训早期培养了批判性思维、领导力和系统视角。HSS方面强化的教育体验可以加速作为变革推动者的职业身份形成，有可能将课程扩展到包括所有医学生。未来需要努力推进评估、跟踪纵向结果，并跨机构合作以确定培养医学生成为“系统公民”的最佳实践。
