Training an Embedded Workforce to Realize Health System Impacts and the Promise of Learning Health Systems; Comment on “Early Career Outcomes of Embedded Research Fellows: An Analysis of the Health System Impact Fellowship Program”

Document Type : Commentary

Author

1 VA HSR Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation & Policy (CSHIIP), VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA

2 Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, UCLA Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA

3 Department of Health Policy & Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Abstract

Learning health systems (LHSs) are designed to systematically integrate external evidence of effective practices with internal data and experience to put knowledge into practice as a part of a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Researchers embedded in health systems are an essential component of LHSs, with defined competencies. However, many of these competencies are not generated by traditional graduate/post-graduate training programs; evaluation of new LHS training programs has been limited. This commentary reviews and extends results of an evaluation of early career outcomes of fellows in one such program designed to generate impact-oriented career pathways embedded in healthcare systems. Discussion considers the need for increasingly rigorous evaluation methods to ensure production of high-quality professionals ready for system engagement, the importance of training and preparing other LHS stakeholders as effective partners and evidence users, and the promise and challenges in advancing the science and practice of embedded research in LHSs.

Keywords

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 22 June 2024
  • Revise Date: 19 August 2024
  • Accept Date: 24 August 2024
  • First Publish Date: 26 August 2024

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