Health Systems Science Scholars Program: National Faculty Development Program

Introduction Training in health systems is important for patient care, but often faculty development is lacking. The purpose of the Health Systems Science Scholars Program (HSS-SP) was to teach faculty how to educate learners in Health Systems Science to improve healthcare delivery practices. The objective of this report was to describe program development and evaluate the HSS-SP program in meeting this goal. Methods The 12-month HSS-SP focused on curriculum development, assessment design, program evaluation, leadership skills, and scholarship. Training formats included in-person workshops, interactive webinars, community of practice, mentoring, and completion of HSS final projects. This evaluation focused on program completion, satisfaction, learning, and HSS integration in final projects. Results One hundred and eight scholars participated across three cohorts. Leaders from 72/155 US medical schools nominated a scholar, indicating support of the program. The retrospective pre-post survey demonstrated significant improvement across all outcome measures including perceived confidence in ability to apply systems thinking, leading change, implementing best practices, commitment to educate others in HSS, improve healthcare delivery, and practice innovative and interactive teaching. Fifty-six final projects focused on broad implementation of HSS at individual institutions, including 75 specific HSS domains (e.g., social determinants of health and patient safety/quality improvement). Medical school curricula projects arose more often than residency projects (86 versus 22), and most utilized innovative and interactive teaching methods. Conclusion The HSS-SP enhanced confidence in and commitment to HSS. Participants’ projects implemented HSS curricular components, furthering dissemination of HSS into the medical education system.