Sciences Health Systems (SHS)

Students will learn the foundations of health systems through in class instruction and patient navigation clinical site experiences.

Students will learn the foundations of health systems through in class instruction and patient navigation clinical site experiences.

The Health Systems Science elective is a longitudinal elective course designed to provide students an advanced learning and authentic experience in health systems sciences within a healthcare delivery system (Penn State Health). Students will be exposed to aspects of population health, value-based care, healthcare systems improvement, healthcare policy and economics, and health care delivery structures and processes. Part of the elective will be spent collaborating with a Health Systems Science Academy scholar to participate in the development of an educational or clinical project that will address an authentic challenge to Penn State Hershey Health System. Sessions will be held two Fridays per month for a total of nine months beginning in September and ending in May. Course material will be presented in the form of mentored relationships with those health systems science faculty and scholars, classroom teaching from various health systems educators, and health systems administrators.

This variable-credit elective (range 1-4 credits based upon time) provides the foundation for learning core Health Systems Science (HSS) and other related Clinical/Basic Sciences and Health Humanities in the context of the 2019-2020 COVID-19 Global Pandemic. This course will provide the opportunity for experiential learning opportunities by engaging students in various tasks to help address the health system and region's response to the emergence and spread of COVID-19. Students will be able to apply what they have learned about HSS concepts in their years of medical school training to real-world examples, as well as experience a deeper understanding of these principles as they observe and analyze the system's response to the pandemic. Each student will choose a primary experience from the emerging list of projects that have been pre-approved by Penn State Health, Penn State College of Medicine, and the Penn State Health Legal Department. All of the experiences will be value-added to the health system, extending the work of the care and support teams; all experiences will be performed remotely and away from direct patient contact and any of the campuses of Penn State College of Medicine or Penn State Health. All of the experiences will have faculty oversight and guidance as would be expected of any other course or clinical clerkships. Students may engage in multiple projects as there is an anticipated dynamic nature to the roles students will contribute during the pandemic. To obtain credit, students will be required to actively participate in the experience, log their activities, and complete designated assignments applicable to each experience as outlined by the course directors. These assignments may include required readings, teaching other medical students, and development of an end-of-course written project.