Introduction to the FDMAC Series on Health Systems Science
As one of our 2023 projects, the Faculty Development Mission Advancement Commission (FDMAC) team has developed of a series of short articles for the Networker, planned for publication over the next several weeks, that are intended to serve as a “primer” of sorts on the topic of Health Systems Science, an area of focus identified by PAEA in the call for proposals for this year’s Education Forum. But what exactly is Health Systems Science (HSS)? If you’re asking yourself that question, you’re certainly not alone. In fact, my guess is that you’re already teaching pieces of it—and there are many pieces!
In order to equip our students to be leaders, paving the way for progress and innovation in health care, it’s critical that we convey to them an understanding that practicing medicine today is so much more than interacting with the patient sitting in front of you, but involves a complex interplay between the multiple domains within the healthcare ecosystem. Recognizing that PA programs may not feel as if they have the in-house expertise to incorporate these concepts into the curriculum in a meaningful way, the FDMAC will be presenting a series of short articles focused on several topics within HSS Science, in addition to resources to get you thinking about how HSS content can fit in to and add value to your curriculum. While we don’t have all the answers, our hope is to start the conversation and spur your interest in flexing your existing patient safety curriculum.
In addition, with the Forum only a few months away, I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight FDMAC’s planned Forum presentation “Mentors, Mentees, and Me: Establishing Mentoring Relationships to Unlock Success.” This presentation will be a fantastic follow up to the Leadership MAC ‘s presentation titled “Developing the Leader in Everyone,” scheduled the day prior. We’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with the LMAC team to develop these presentations which, while not a true two-part series, represent the continuum of leadership skills necessary for successfully advancing your PA faculty career. We also have some great LMAC-FDMAC post-Forum collaboration ideas that will allow us to continue these conversations once we all return home from New Orleans, so stay tuned!
The other stories in this series can be found on the PAEA website. The second story is here, the third story is here, the fourth story is here, the fifth story is here, and the sixth story is here.
