Educating Healthcare Students: Strategies to Teach Systems Thinking to Prepare New Healthcare Graduates

Educating undergraduate healthcare students is challenging due to the complexity of the healthcare environment today. Healthcare education systems focus mainly on discipline specific thinking using linear frameworks and reductionist approaches. Education of nurses, pharmacists, physicians, social workers, respiratory therapists takes place in a siloed environment with minimal interprofessional interaction. Yet, organizations expect new graduates to have skills and understanding of collaborative care with knowledge of healthcare systems thinking, IPP, TeamSTEPPS®, methods of group dynamics, and a knowledge of Informatics when they enter the workforce.

The purpose of this article is to 1) discuss and describe challenges in a high-tech complex healthcare environment that necessitate teaching systems thinking to future healthcare students, and 2) describe the use of interprofessional education (IPE), interprofessional practice (IPP), Team STEPPS®, curricular content, and other teaching methods as strategies for teaching systems thinking.

Systems thinking in healthcare supports a holistic approach to care, inclusive of high-tech in the complex environment. With the rapid changes it is necessary to modify our teaching theories we use to educate new healthcare providers. Educating and practicing the key concepts/principles of IPE, IPP, and TeamSTEPPS®, and group dynamics, along with the important integration of technology, can provide the foundation to develop systems thinking and critical thinking in our complex healthcare environment.