Systems Thinking and Systems-Based Practice Across the Health Professions: An Inquiry Into Definitions, Teaching Practices, and Assessment

ABSTRACTPhenomenon: Systems thinking is the cornerstone of systems-based practice (SBP) and a core competency in medicine and health sciences. Literature regarding how to teach or apply systems thinking in practice is limited. This study aimed to understand how educators in medicine, physical therapy, physician assistant, nursing, and speech-language pathology education programs teach and assess systems thinking and SBP. Approach: Twenty-six educators from seven different degree programs across the five professions were interviewed and program descriptions and relevant course syllabi were reviewed. Qualitative analysis was iterative and incorporated inductive and deductive methods as well as a constant comparison of units of data to identify patterns and themes. Findings: Six themes were identified: 1) participants described systems thinking as ranging across four major levels of healthcare (i.e., patient, care team, organization, and external environment); 2) participants associated systems thinking with...