by Adina O. Davidson, Wendy C.
Cox, Heather Azzu, Kelly Womack-Adams, Jacqueline E. McLaughlin Purpose This study illustrates the use of design thinking (DT) as a structured, participatory approach to explore contemporary complex challenges in health professions admissions, including the rise of generative AI, remote interviews, and the elimination of standardized admissions tests.
This work focuses on stakeholder-driven problem framing and idea generation rather than evaluating outcomes. Methods A two-hour workshop engaged 15 purposively sampled stakeholders, including faculty, staff, application readers, and student ambassadors, in collaborative problem framing, ideation, and rapid prototyping of admissions concepts.
Generative artifacts (brainstorming outputs, reflection worksheets, facilitator notes) and post-session surveys were analyzed using thematic synthesis and descriptive statistics to characterize emergent ideas and participant perspectives. Major findings Participants generated ideas that clustered into three major themes: interview restructuring, GenAI integration and compliance, and broadening of admissions criteria, illustrating how stakeholders reframed challenges and proposed diverse solution pathways.
PLOS ONE (Medicine) published a clinical update in Research Highlights on 23 Jun 2026.
The item focuses on Leveraging design thinking to tackle contemporary admissions challenges in health professions education.
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