A free online course on Practical Improvement Science in Healthcare begins 20^th January 2016.

The course, running for six weeks, is available through edx.org, as part of the IHI-HarvvardX Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). The NHS and the Joint Improvement Team are both keen fto encourage those who work in health and social care, as well as those in the third sector, to sign up.

Improvement Science is prevalent in the NHS as one way (amongst others) in which quality can be improved. In the context of health and social care integration, the Scottish Government says that this free course could prove to be a useful method to learn more about it and how it might be applicable to the work of those involved.

Learners will dive into short, engaging lectures and have access to additional materials and resources. They also will have full access to the social network provided by the edX platform, which provides immediate peer-to-peer feedback and facilitates shared learning. The course is designed so that learners will begin building and practicing their practical improvement skills right away, regardless of their role in health or health care, and regardless of previous improvement experience.

Expert faculty from Harvard and IHI include Don Goldmann, MD, IHI’s Chief Medical and Scientific Officer and Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health professor; David Williams, PhD, an IHI Executive Director and improvement scientist; and Don Berwick, MD, MPP, IHI President Emeritus. They will draw from their vast experience in teaching and guiding improvement in health and health care to provide real world examples of how to get results in daily work and life.

If you are interested, the following instructions should enable you to register to participate in the course, free of charge, through the EdX website. Users will need to:

Follow the link to the course homepage.
Click on “Enroll Now”.
Register with www.edx.org.
Once registered, it will bring you back to a page with two choices: “pursue a verified certificate” or “audit this course”. Choose “audit this course”. This will register you under the free option.
To pursue continuing education credits, enroll on www.ihi.org and follow the instructions.