Health Systems Science
Research
Textbooks
The following textbooks had major contributions from members of our Health Systems Science Office.
Health Systems Science Review 1st Edition by Jesse M. Ehrenfeld MD MPH FASA (Author), Jed D. Gonzalo MSc MD (Author)
Health Systems Science 2nd Edition by Susan E. Skochelak MD MPH (Editor)
Health Systems Science Education: Development and Implementation (Volume 4) (The AMA MedEd Innovation Series, Volume 4) 1st Edition by Rosalyn Maben-Feaster MD MPH (Editor), Maya M. Hammoud MD MBA (Editor), Jeffrey Borkan MD PhD (Editor), Ami DeWaters MSc MD (Editor), Jed D. Gonzalo MSc MD (Editor), Stephanie R. Starr MD (Editor)
Value-Added Roles for Medical Students (The AMA MedEd Innovation Series) 1st Edition by Jed D. Gonzalo MSc MD (Author), Maya M. Hammoud MD MBA (Author), Gregory W. Schneider MD (Author)
Grants
Below are major grants that have been awarded to the Health System Science Office in the last 10 years.
American Medical Association (AMA) Accelerating Change in Medical Education (ACE) grant
Project Title: Reconceptualizing Medical Education: Health Systems, Medical Sciences and Clinical Care as a Fundamental Curriculum Triad
$1,000,000 awarded over a five year period from 2013-2018.
Principal Investigator: Terry Wolpaw, MD, MHPE; Co-PI: Jed Gonzalo, MD, MSc
Project Summary: Penn State’s project aim was successful in collaborating with its health system leaders to design educational experiences that aligned medical education with health system needs. Its Systems Navigation Curriculum (SyNC) which launched in August 2014 and includes a Science of Health Systems first and second year undergraduate medical education course, pairs medical students with immersive clinical experiences. The course threads evidence-based medicine, and teamwork and leadership throughout its eight health systems modules.
Learn more about the AMA ACE initiative
American Medical Association (AMA) Reimagining Residency grant
Project Title: Developing Residents as Systems Citizens: The Systems-Based Practice Competency for the 21st-Century Health Care System
Principal Investigator: Ami DeWaters, MD, MSc, Director, Health Systems Science Education
$1,750,000 awarded over a five year period from 2020-2025 (with a no cost extension through June 2026)
Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, Kaiser Permanente, Geisinger, Allegheny Health Network
Project description: The Developing Residents as Systems Citizens project aims to evolve the Systems-Based Practice (SBP) competency through implementation and dissemination into GME programs as well as across the educational continuum. Led by Pennsylvania State College of Medicine in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, Geisinger and the Allegheny Health Network, the goal of the project is to development residents into systems citizens who are prepared to contribute to the evolving systems of care and the construction of clinical learning environments that foster such development.
Progress to date:
Concept work and qualitative methodologies to inform the concept of a systems citizen
Multi-institutional study to identify resident/faculty perceptions of their responsibility and skills in SBP
Qualitative interviews with nurses, physicians and residents to examine the root challenges with operationalizing SBP
Consultation with 24 GME programs across four health systems to assess SBP at the GME program level and their readiness for change
Compilation and review of the collective studies and research to inform the foundation for the work of “clinical systems accelerator” roles and institution-specific teams that will use design thinking to pursue change within clinical learning environments and GME programs
Initiation at all four network institutions of SBP-focused pilots using design thinking
Work in Curriculum Development
Below is a sampling of publications in the last five years by members of Health System Science Office.
Selected Publications:
Smeltz, L., Whitney, L., King, T., Newcomb, N., & DeWaters, AL. Teaching Future Physician Assistants to Provide ADEPT-CARE to Disabled Patients: A novel Application of Disability Curriculum. Journal of Physician Assistant Education. [in press].
Smeltz L, Carpenter S, Benedetto L, Newcomb N, Rubenstein D, King T, Lunsford C, Shaw T, DeWaters AL. Introduction to Disability and Anti-Ableist Healthcare: A Pilot, Student-Led Module for Preclinical Medical Students. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2024 Jan 12. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000002399. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38261784.
Kim JG, Gonzalo JD, Chen I, Vo A, Lupi C, Hyderi A, Haidet P, DeWaters AL, Blatt B, Holmboe E, Thompson LR, Jimenez J, Madigosky W, Chung PJ. How a Team Effectiveness Approach to Health Systems Science Can Illuminate Undergraduate Medical Education Outcomes. Acad Med. 2023 Dec 28. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000005619. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38166319.
DeWaters AL, Miller EL, Haidet P, Gonzalo JD. Systems-Based Practice: Expert Perspectives on the Origin and Evolution of an Ambiguous Competency. Acad Med. 2023 Oct 19. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000005478. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37881916.
Reilly JB, Kim JG, Cooney R, DeWaters AL, Holmboe ES, Mazotti L, Gonzalo JD. Breaking Down Silos Between Medical Education and Health Systems: Creating an Integrated Multilevel Data Model to Advance the Systems-Based Practice Competency. Acad Med. 2023 Jun 7. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000005294. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37289829.
Gonzalo JD, DeWaters AL, Thompson B, Mazotti L, Riegels N, Cooney R, Reilly JB, Wolpaw T, Wolpaw DR. System Citizenship: Re-Envisioning the Physician Role as Part of the Sixth Wave of Professionalism. Am J Med. 2023 Jun;136(6):596-603. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2023.03.001. Epub 2023 Mar 6. PMID: 36889491.
Smeltz, L., Carpenter, S., Benedetto, L., Newcomb, N., Rubenstein, D., King, T., Lunsford, C., & DeWaters, A. ADEPT-CARE: A Student-Led Initiative to Improve Care for Persons with Disabilities via a Novel Teaching Tool. Disability & Health. 2023. In press.
Gonzalo, Jed, Hamilton, Maria, DeWaters, A.L, et. al. Implementation and Evaluation of an Interprofessional Health Systems Science Professional Development Program. Academic Medicine. 2022.
Student-Led Research
Meet Lydia Smeltz, third-year medical student at Penn State College of Medicine. Lydia’s story highlights how the Health Systems Science Office sponsors students to create curricula and health care delivery projects of their own.