Health professions’ education programs are undergoing enormous changes, including increasing use of online and intensive, or time reduced, courses. Although evidence is mounting for online and intensive course formats as separate designs, literature investigating online and intensive formats in health professional education is lacking. The purpose of the study was to compare student outcomes (final grades and course evaluation ratings) for equivalent courses in semester long (15-week) versus intensive (7-week) online formats in graduate health sciences courses. This retrospective, observational study compared satisfaction and performance scores of students enrolled in three graduate health sciences programs in a large, urban US university. Descriptive statistics, chi square analysis, and independent t-tests were used to describe student samples and determine differences in student satisfaction and performance. The results demonstrated no significant differences for four applicable items on the final student course evaluations (p values range from 0.127 to 1.00) between semester long and intensive course formats. Similarly, student performance scores for final assignment and final grades showed no significant differences (p = 0.35 and 0.690 respectively) between semester long and intensive course formats. Findings from this study suggest that 7-week and 15-week online courses can be equally effective with regard to student satisfaction and performance outcomes. While further study is recommended, academic programs should consider intensive online course formats as an alternative to semester long online course formats.

Objectives Learning health systems (LHS) integrate knowledge and practice through cycles of continuous quality improvement and learning to increase healthcare quality. LHS have been conceptualised through multiple frameworks and models. Our aim is to identify and describe the requisite individual competencies (knowledge, skills and attitudes) and system competencies (capacities, characteristics and capabilities) described in existing literature in relation to operationalising LHS. Methods A scoping review was conducted with descriptive and thematic analysis to identify and map competencies of LHS for individuals/patients, health system workers and systems. Articles until April 2020 were included based on a systematic literature search and selection process. Themes were developed using a consensus process until agreement was reached among team members. Results Eighty-nine articles were included with most studies conducted in the USA (68 articles). The largest number of publications represented competencies at the system level, followed by health system worker competencies. Themes identified at the individual/patient level were knowledge and skills to understand and share information with an established system and the ability to interact with the technology used to collect data. Themes at the health system worker level were skills in evidence-based practice, leadership and teamwork skills, analytical and technological skills required to use a ‘digital ecosystem’, data-science knowledge and skill and self-reflective capacity. Researchers embedded within LHS require a specific set of competencies. Themes identified at the system level were data, infrastructure and standardisation; integration of data and workflow; and culture and climate supporting ongoing learning. Conclusion The identified individual stakeholder competencies within LHS and the system capabilities of LHS provide a solid base for the further development and evaluation of LHS. International collaboration for stimulating LHS will assist in further establishing the knowledge base for LHS.

Intensive courses (ICs), or accelerated courses, are gaining popularity in medical and health professions education, particularly as programs adopt e-learning models to negotiate challenges of flexibility, space, cost, and time. In 2014, the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership (CRL) at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences began the process of transitioning two online 15-week graduate programs to an IC model. Within a year, a third program also transitioned to this model. A literature review yielded little guidance on the process of transitioning from 15-week, traditional models of delivery to IC models, particularly in online learning environments. Correspondingly, this paper describes the process by which CRL transitioned three online graduate programs to an IC model and details best practices for course design and facilitation resulting from our iterative redesign process. Finally, we present lessons-learned for the benefit of other medical and health professionsʼ programs contemplating similar transitions. Abbreviations: CRL: Department of Clinical Research and Leadership; HSCI: Health Sciences; IC: Intensive course; PD: Program director; QM: Quality Matters

(1) Background: International virtual exchanges (IVEs) are here to stay. The coronavirus pandemic of 2019 (COVID-19) necessitated global virtual interactions to solve wicked problems. Within industry during the pandemic, the use of online technologies expanded at a never-before-seen rate to form global partnerships At the same time, higher-education institutions lessened traditional international offerings, reimagining “campus” education using “just in time online education”. Still others leveraged international partnerships to fully embrace IVEs. Adopting virtual learning technologies to support global exchange in this way develops the knowledge and skills required in a post-pandemic world. To continue to shape knowledge that supports international collaboration toward addressing increasingly complex societal issues, higher education must learn to leverage IVEs, addressing issues of access, equity, and cost. (2) Methods: This research was conducted according to the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews” (PRISMA-Scr) guidelines. It systematically analyzed the literature published since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, exploring methods, models, and the outcomes of IVE in higher education. (3) Results: The findings demonstrate the potential for IVE to be scaled across higher education to promote the knowledge and skills required by a global ecology.

Learning Health Systems (LHSs) seek continuous improvement through the translation and integration of internally and externally generated knowledge across stakeholders within and external to the organization, yet current approaches are primarily described from the healthcare delivery perspective, leaving teaching and research responsibilities underexposed. Academic medical centers offer a unique perspective on LHSs because their mission includes teaching, research, and healthcare. This introduces an opportunity to enact, educate, and study processes and outcomes of LHSs within a single system. Little information is available to describe these processes and outcomes, resulting in a knowledge gap regarding the role of education and research in the quality improvement cycles and learning of LHSs. To close this knowledge gap, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences initiated the Health Research and Education Collaboratory (GW Collaboratory) in 2017. The GW Collaboratory was established to study mechanisms supporting continuous quality improvement and learning in health systems within an academic medical center. We envision the GW Collaboratory as interconnected knowledge nodes facilitating collaboration among clinicians, patients, researchers, and educators to study the knowledge generation, dissemination, application, and evaluation required for continuous quality improvement and learning. We employ a project-based approach to foster communities of learning focused on exploring specific health problems of interest. We propose the GW Collaboratory as one model by which academic medical centers can contribute to the science of LHS.

Purpose: This pilot study investigated the level of cognition that physician assistant (PA) students achieved through adoption of an innovative blended learning model that connects the classroom, clinicians, and community clinics through electronic-learning (e-learning) technologies (C4Tech) used in a PA course. This education intervention aimed to facilitate authentic learning collaborations between PA students and practicing clinicians that would result in higher-order cognition related to the manifestations of social determinants of health and health disparities. Methods: A case study approach was adopted to assess levels of cognition and changes in those levels resulting from application of an innovative blended learning model. Content analysis using Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive domains facilitated determination levels of cognition and changes in those levels. The sample of 8 groups comprised 70 PA students and 8 clinical instructors from community clinics with underrepresented patient populations. Results: Analysis of 2 course assignments revealed that application of the C4Tech model yields high levels of cognition. By the course's end, all 8 groups achieved at least the “evaluate” level of cognition and half of the groups achieved the highest level of cognition, the “create” level. A wide variation in the level of cognition was demonstrated between the first and second assignments in each group and among groups. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that e-learning technologies can be effective in blending classrooms and work environments for authentic and collaborative learning. Adoption of the C4Tech model yielded higher-order cognition related to course content.