Health systems science as the third pillar of medical education: global standards and international progress / 中华医学教育探索杂志

ABSTRACT

The World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) "Basic Medical Education WFME Global Standards For Quality Improvement (the 2020 Revision)" has added the requirements for the course of health systems science (HSS) in the guidance for curriculum content. HSS is the principles, methods, and practices that improve the quality, outcomes, and costs of providing health care to patients and populations within the health care system. Since the 21st century, in order to adapt to the increasingly rapid changes in the demand for health care services and the increasingly complex system, the American Medical Association (AMA) worked with several medical colleges and universities to propose the design and practice of a course focusing on HSS in addition to the two pillar courses of basic and clinical sciences, so as to help medical students master clinical competencies, develop and use system thinking to better adapt to the requirements of professional work, and accomplish their work tasks in an efficient, extensive, and low-cost manner from the perspective of the association between health systems. In recent years, HSS has been defined as the third pillar of medical education that, from the structural perspective, stabilizes and ensures the achievements of medical education. This article describes the structure and contents of HSS and related advances.