Abstract
BackgroundDesign thinking is a problem-solving framework that has been used to enhance patient experiences, improve clinical outcomes, and refine medical curricula. This study reviewed the use of design thinking in health professions education.MethodsA search yielded 169 articles, which were excluded if they were: (1) not related to education; (2) lacking an application of design thinking; or (3) not associated with healthcare. The final review yielded 15 articles, which were analyzed using qualitative methods.ResultsAll articles were published in 2009 or later and were diverse in their context, participants, and approach. Six studies emphasized the early stages of design thinking, with inspiration and ideation stages fostered through a variety of activities, such as lectures, small group discussions, and workshops. Studies examined a range of outcomes, including self-efficacy, perceptions, and solutions to a specific problem.ConclusionsOur findings raise important considerations for health professions education, including the extent to which we should: 1) teach design thinking to students as a skill-based tool to prepare students for problem solving in complex healthcare environments; and 2) use design thinking to create, implement, and refine health professions curricula and educational programs. Despite the apparent benefits of design thinking, many questions for health professions education remain.
Highlights
Design thinking is a problem-solving framework that has been used to enhance patient experiences, improve clinical outcomes, and refine medical curricula
Six studies emphasized the early stages of design thinking, with inspiration and ideation stages fostered through a variety of activities, such as lectures, small group discussions, and workshops
This review explored the use of design thinking in research on health professions education as a first step toward understanding how design thinking has been applied in health professions training and education
Summary
Design thinking is a problem-solving framework that has been used to enhance patient experiences, improve clinical outcomes, and refine medical curricula. A growing body of literature highlights the increasing demand on healthcare providers to simultaneously master the clinical content and thinking processes necessary to address complex patient-care problems, in the face of uncertainty within a dynamic and rapidly evolving environment [1,2,3,4,5]. The demand for these diverse and adaptable problem solving skills has led to a vast and disparate body of research with a wide range of proposed solutions [6,7,8]. Jornet and Roth reframed design as intrinsically social and Krippendorff emphasized the communicative nature of design, both of which help frame the ways in which health professionals can engage in the design process to solve problems with and for patients [25, 26]
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