Article by Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH and Jed D. Gonzalo, MD, MSc, editors of Health Systems Science Review

Health Systems Science Review is the first book to help learners prepare to be assessed and faculty to develop assessments in this emerging discipline. Health systems science—the study of how health systems deliver care, how patients receive and access that care, and how care can be improved—is increasingly the third pillar of medical education alongside the clinical and basic sciences. Assessment is critical to its increasing implementation.

We started working on this book soon after the publication of the first edition of the textbook, Health Systems Science. This textbook provided a framework for this area of study, but it quickly became apparent that a study guide was needed to assist students and faculty working in this new area. We recruited leading experts in their fields to write questions, answers, and full explanations on health care delivery and processes, health care policy and economics, clinical informatics and technology, socio-ecological determinants of health, population and public health, value in health care, patient safety, quality improvement, teamwork and collaboration, leadership in health care, and systems thinking.

Each chapter is organized into cases followed by questions. Answers and explanations are at the back of each chapter. This structure facilitates quicker study for learners. Faculty can also use this book to improve their own knowledge in this area and develop assessments.

The Health Systems Science Review book is the latest in the ongoing work to integrate health systems science into medical education. A second edition of the Health Systems Science textbook is under development.

Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH is the Joseph A. Johnson Jr. Distinguished Leadership Professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in the departments of anesthesiology, surgery, biomedical informatics, and health policy.

Jed D. Gonzalo, MD, MSc is the associate dean of health systems education at Penn State University College of Medicine and associate professor in that school’s department of medicine and department of public health sciences