While physicians often receive training in basic and clinical sciences while pursuing an MD or DO, medical schools are increasingly emphasizing health systems sciences in their students' education, according to the American Medical Association Wire.
HSS is a discipline that teaches principles, methods and practices of improving quality, outcomes and costs of healthcare delivery. An HSS curriculum focuses on leadership, root-cause analysis, working in teams, care coordination, care transitions, the social and economic determinants of health, error disclosure and using new technologies like health IT and EHRs.
Here are three schools that integrated HSS into their curricula.
1. Mayo Clinic School of Medicine in Rochester, Minn.
2. Penn State University College of Medicine in Hershey, Pa.
3. A.T. Still University's School of Osteopathic Medicine in Mesa, Ariz.
HSS is "better preparing future physicians to practice in the medical environment that awaits them, and their patients are better served because of the students' experiences," according to AMA Wire.