The Power of Design Thinking in Medical Education

Acad Radiol. 2019 Oct;26(10):1417-1420. doi: 10.1016/j.acra.2019.02.012. Epub 2019 Mar 11.

Abstract

A goal of medical education should be to optimize educational experiences of our learners. How can we better understand their experiences and design educational activities that inspire them to learn? Design Thinking is a powerful process that consists of five iterative phases: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. Empathy with the user experience is at the core of Design Thinking. This helps define the right problem so that the right solutions can be developed. In this article, we share our experiences with using Design Thinking in radiology education. As educators, we are constantly learning and innovating. Design Thinking provides a powerful process and a growth mindset to help develop creative solutions as we move forward. We invite you to join us in this discovery quest for innovative solutions in medical education through the Design Thinking process.

Keywords: Curriculum Design; Design Thinking; Graduate Medical Education; Medical Education; Radiology Education; Radiology Residency; Ultrasound Curriculum.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Creativity
  • Curriculum
  • Education, Medical / methods*
  • Humans
  • Problem-Based Learning / methods*
  • Radiology / education*
  • Thinking