Innovation per DiEM: Design in Emergency Medicine, A Longitudinal Medical School Design Curriculum

Abstract Background The use of design principles in tackling complex health issues is gaining significant traction. Medical education must evolve to prepare future clinicians on design thinking methods. Method Twenty second-year medical students and seven EM faculty mentors from the Sidney Kimmel Medical College were enrolled in eight, 3-hour experiential design didactic sessions in 2017-18. Student teams were matched with EM physician-mentors to apply design thinking methods to specific ED problems. Didactic content included: 1) empathy building; 2) idea generation; 3) prototyping; 4) testing; 5) the user experience; 6) service design; 7) business canvas planning; 8) idea presentation. The curriculum was developed based the Kolb’s cycle, constructivist framework and Stanford d.school design thinking and students were evaluated using the Kirkpatrick Model through self-evaluation, group presentations, and project deliverables. Results Quantitative evaluation of the simulated training session was extracted through an 11-item questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale. Overall responses were positive. Both students and faculty reported that participation in the curriculum was a valuable experience and provided deeper insight into applying design in healthcare. Areas of improvement included requests for longitudinal feedback, diverse collaborative efforts, and practical design workshops. The majority of learners recommended this curriculum to future learners. Conclusion Innovation per DiEM is a unique design curriculum that focuses on EM challenges with active EM clinician mentorship. Future goals include developing longitudinal evaluation and broadening healthcare challenges beyond the context of the ED.