Design thinking in North American undergraduate medical education

As medical students graduate into an increasingly complex healthcare system, researchers, clinicians, and policy makers have called for novel curricular initiatives. Design thinking is a structured innovation framework used regularly in business and engineering. We surveyed and interviewed design thinking educators in medical schools and mapped key themes to curricular accreditation standards in the US and Canada. Although we found significant program heterogeneity, all programs emphasised skills in problem definition in complex spaces and interdisciplinary collaboration. These skills mapped to key curricular content areas. Standardised outcome-based evaluation of students competencies will help further develop the intersection between design and medical education.

Duke Scholars

Author Lana M Minshew Anesthesiology