Open AccessTraining the next generation of learning health system scientists
Author(s) -
Lozano Paula M.,
LaneFall Meghan,
Franklin Patricia D.,
Rothman Russell L.,
Gonzales Ralph,
Ong Michael K.,
Gould Michael K.,
Beebe Timothy J.,
Roumie Christianne L.,
Guise JeanneMarie,
Enders Felicity T.,
Forrest Christopher B.,
Mendonca Eneida A.,
Starrels Joanna L.,
Sarkar Urmimala,
Savitz Lucy A.,
Moon JeanHee,
Linzer Mark,
Ralston James D.,
Chesley Francis D.
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
learning health systems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.501
H-Index - 9
ISSN - 2379-6146
DOI - 10.1002/lrh2.10342
Subject(s) - excellence , stakeholder engagement , public relations , context (archaeology) , medical education , stakeholder , health care , center of excellence , agency (philosophy) , incentive , curriculum , political science , psychology , medicine , sociology , pedagogy , paleontology , social science , law , economics , biology , microeconomics
The learning health system (LHS) aligns science, informatics, incentives, stakeholders, and culture for continuous improvement and innovation. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Patient‐Centered Outcomes Research Institute designed a K12 initiative to grow the number of LHS scientists. We describe approaches developed by 11 funded centers of excellence (COEs) to promote partnerships between scholars and health system leaders and to provide mentored research training. Methods Since 2018, the COEs have enlisted faculty, secured institutional resources, partnered with health systems, developed and implemented curricula, recruited scholars, and provided mentored training. Program directors for each COE provided descriptive data on program context, scholar characteristics, stakeholder engagement, scholar experiences with health system partnerships, roles following program completion, and key training challenges. Results To date, the 11 COEs have partnered with health systems to train 110 scholars. Nine (82%) programs partner with a Veterans Affairs health system and 9 (82%) partner with safety net providers. Clinically trained scholars (n = 87; 79%) include 70 physicians and 17 scholars in other clinical disciplines. Non‐clinicians (n = 29; 26%) represent diverse fields, dominated by population health sciences. Stakeholder engagement helps scholars understand health system and patient/family needs and priorities, enabling opportunities to conduct embedded research, improve outcomes, and grow skills in translating research methods and findings into practice. Challenges include supporting scholars through roadblocks that threaten to derail projects during their limited program time, ranging from delays in access to data to COVID‐19‐related impediments and shifts in organizational priorities. Conclusions Four years into this novel training program, there is evidence of scholars' accomplishments, both in traditional academic terms and in terms of moving along career trajectories that hold the potential to lead and accelerate transformational health system change. Future LHS training efforts should focus on sustainability, including organizational support for scholar activities.