ArticleBMC medical education2026
Health systems science education for undergraduate medical students: a 3-year longitudinal curriculum preparing students to drive real-world health system improvement.
Article in BMC medical education, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMedical education has traditionally relied on basic and clinical sciences as the two foundational pillars for preparing physicians to enter practice. Recently, health systems science (HSS) has emerged as a third pillar, aiming to address the complexities of rapidly evolving healthcare systems. However, it remains limited or absent from most medical education programs worldwide, often lacking structured formal integration within broader medical education curriculum.
methodsIn August 2019, a new 3-year longitudinal Health Systems Science (HSS) course was introduced into the fourth year of a 6-year undergraduate medical curriculum at the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The course addresses competencies such as value-based care, population health, interprofessional collaboration, health system improvement, and systems thinking. It combines structured classroom instruction, online modules via the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and the completion of an experiential Quality Improvement (QI) project in the final year.
resultsAll students participated in workplace-based quality improvement project and presented their findings as posters at a year-end HSS school symposium. When surveyed at the end of the course, all 47 students who completed the survey indicated they would recommend the course to future students, with 93.62% of respondents rating the course as ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’ (M = 4.34, SD = 0.60). Students also appreciated the new QI skills they acquired and their deeper understanding of health systems. NEXT STEPS: The course faculty plan to continue instilling and nurturing HSS competencies during the early stages of medical education and envision expanding such courses to more health professionals in the future, including those from nursing, pharmacy, and other health programs. Student feedback and lessons learned will be used to inform course improvements, implement robust assessments, and influence a cultural shift towards greater engagement in QI work alongside clinical care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.