About Us
Mission
The overall objective of the Minnesota Learning Health System Embedded Scientist Training (MN-LHS) Program, is to create and equip a group of specially trained, embedded researchers who will systematically generate, apply, and translate evidence quickly within health systems to improve personalization, quality, equity, and outcomes of care and reduce waste in the health care system.
The MN-LHS program will incubate an interlinked community of scholars excelling in LHS competencies and practice-integrated research, patients and mentors engaged in LHS-oriented research, and improved care across the educational and experiential spectrum within the core partners and beyond. The MN-LHS program will train a new generation of LHS researchers embedded at the interface of research, informatics, and clinical operations within learning health systems. It will also promote recruitment, advancement, retention, and scholarship of researchers and mentors in LHS-related research careers and advance the field accordingly. The program will serve as a model for other institutions and be a strong partner in the AHRQ and PCORI Learning Collaborative.
Goals
The objective of this training program is to develop a cadre of researchers to strengthen the rigor and responsiveness of the medical evidence base and improve the implementation of innovative practices in health care organizations. The specific goals of the MN-LHS Program are to:
- provide rigorous, competency-based training in the design and conduct of high-quality LHS research, with standard and individualized components;
- ensure MN-LHS scholars acquire embeddedness thinking and skills in LHS research, including practical questions around health equity, stakeholder engagement, and responsible conduct of research;
- offer experiential learning opportunities and externships; and
- leverage extensive multidisciplinary mentoring capacity to support scholar development as productive and embedded LHS investigators.
Practical Application of Program Goals
Goals will be accomplished through deployment of the following components:
Pre-award planning for each scholar including their LHS competency mapping their prior competency and IDP to achieve their targets for the 33 AHRQ LHS competencies, and a mentoring contract signed by the scholar and primary mentor(s).
Competency-based training at a fundamental level in the AHRQ LHS competencies through a) a one-semester course on Conducting Health Outcomes Research; b) Design Shop, a biweekly MN LHS forum spanning the two-year program; and c) coursework at UMN to ensure scholars achieve mastery in areas related to their research.
Complete research practicum for experiential learning embedded within clinical practice.
Strong program oversight and evaluation tailored to the program competencies and milestones that we expect each scholar to achieve.