Academic Medicine Open Forum

 View Only
Expand all | Collapse all

A Practical, Visual Resource for Teaching Complexity (Not Just "Complicated" Care)

  • 1.  A Practical, Visual Resource for Teaching Complexity (Not Just "Complicated" Care)

    Posted 23 hours ago

    Good morning!

    Many of us say we're preparing learners to work in "complex health systems," yet our teaching tools often remain linear, reductionist, or abstract. I recently came across the Complex Systems Frameworks Collection (https://www.complexsystemsframeworks.ca/), a curated, visual repository of foundational systems and complexity frameworks that directly addresses this gap.

    This collection brings together models many of us reference-Meadows, Snowden, Stacey, Wheatley, Zimmerman-but rarely teach well or coherently. What makes this resource different is its intentional focus on accessibility, visual sense-making, and relationships among frameworks, rather than presenting them as isolated theories.

    For educators working across UME, GME, CPD, or interprofessional programs-particularly those teaching population health, health systems science, leadership, or quality improvement-this is a valuable, ready-to-use resource for helping learners distinguish complex vs. complicated problems and respond appropriately.

    Worth exploring and integrating into curricula where systems thinking is claimed-but not always clearly taught.



    ------------------------------
    Mary Gurney
    Professor
    Midwestern University College of Pharmacy, Glendale Campus
    mgurney@midwestern.edu
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: A Practical, Visual Resource for Teaching Complexity (Not Just "Complicated" Care)

    Posted 22 hours ago

    Mary,

    This collection is phenomanal. Complexity is one of the hardest concepts to teach. I have used Cynefin framework; however this repository gives me the flexibility to adapt. Thank you



    ------------------------------
    BINATA MUKHERJEE
    Assistant Dean, Faculty & Professional Development
    University of South Alabama Health System
    ------------------------------