Education research in the U-M Medical School Department of Learning Health Sciences applies a social science lens to the study of health professions education: studying how individuals learn and exploring best practices to support that change.
Our faculty include behavioral scientists representing backgrounds in psychology, education, sociology and anthropology, who specialize in novel and innovative approaches to teaching and learning within the rapidly changing health care landscape.
Our education research faculty collaborate closely with colleagues in the U-M Medical School and other health sciences schools and colleges across the university, to develop and share research on learning related to health professions and patients.
Our research focuses on areas like:
- Interprofessional education
- Competency-based education
- Development of health professions educators
- Assessment and evaluation
- Pedagogical innovation and implementation
- Educational assessment and evaluation
- Curriculum design
- Patient education and communication
We facilitate a number of events and discussions around scholarship and best practices for health professions education, including co-sponsoring Health Professions Education Day (HPE). HPE Day is an annual event that brings together faculty and students from 10 health science schools across the University of Michigan’s three campuses, to showcase innovation in interprofessional education.
Supported by a program-project grant from AHRQ and PCORI, the department-led MEL-STaR center will support the didactic and experiential training of 40 Learning Health System (LHS) scientists, known as “MEL-STaR Scholars.” Faculty, clinical fellows, advanced residents, and senior staff holding doctoral degrees are eligible to be MEL-STaR Scholars. The program is based in the Department of Learning Health Sciences.
The training experience will prepare the scholars for careers to improve individual and population health by employing methods that combine identification of gaps in care, data analytics, generation of new knowledge, and implementation of knowledge into practice.
Our team oversees the U-M Medical School Clinical Simulation Center (SIM Center), an innovative learning lab providing immersive simulation training for physicians, nurses and health care professionals at Michigan Medicine. SIM Center faculty represent multiple specialty practices, giving a breadth and depth of expertise in development, implementation, and evaluation of simulation technologies for diverse and variable medical applications.
Through the learning health system model, the goal is to integrate clinical simulation research to improve patient care quality, increase operational efficiencies and enhance learning at all levels.
