Redesigning Healthcare is a series of classes I co-design and teach at Stanford’s d.school with clinicians from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital since 2013.
Simulation learning fits well within the design-thinking paradigm: empathize (through immersion), define (the needs or problems), ideate (brainstorm), prototype (iterative low resolution style) and test with users (repeat). Jules's question: Does immersion (hands-on practice) produce deeper insights? The answer is "yes," due to a higher level of engagement of all the senses. These classes were conducted at The Center For Advanced Pediatric & Perinatal Education (CAPE), and funded by The Agency For Healthcare Research And Quality, and Stanford's d. School.
Redesigning the Neonatal ICU informed students about challenges in the NICU environment through expert speakers, literature, CAPE simulations, and field trips. Simultaneously, we study the users: their environment, their behavior, and their emotions. Our goal was to identify needs that could lead to product, system or service innovation and will improve safety and quality of care.
Designing For Safety In Labor & Delivery was inspired by the research I am conducting with an interdisciplinary team at The Safety Learning Lab For Neonatal & Maternal Care.
In this class, our aim is to imagine novel interventions that may reduce health disparities for children with medical complexity (CMC). We will design products or services that may be helpful for this population of patients and their families.
Book me for a workshop or lecture:
Redesigning The Hospital Birth Experience (fall 2013) Co-taught with Dr. William Rhine, Head of Neonatology at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. The hospital L&D experience became a backdrop for learning design thinking methodology. Our approach was to give students the opportunity to develop empathy for mothers, partners, babies, and clinicians in labor and delivery through observing simulations, synthesizing research, and developing novel products and protocols to improve care.
Redesigning the Neonatal ICU (fall 2014) Co-taught with Dr. William Rhine, Head of Neonatology at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Redesigning the Neonatal ICU informed students about current challenges in the NICU environment through expert speakers, literature, CAPE simulations, and field trips. Simultaneously, we studied the users: their environment, their behavior, and emotions. Students developed innovative products and applications to improve care and communication between clinicians and parents.
Designing For Safety In Labor & Delivery (winter 2016) Co-taught with Dr. Henry Lee. This class was inspired by research I am currently participating in regarding how to improve safety in labor and delivery, funded by an AHRQ grant. Dr. Henry Lee, and I informed students about challenges in the L&D environment through direct observation in a simulated environment and the hospital. Simultaneously, we studied the users: their environment, protocols, communication and behavior. Students developed innovative products and applications to improve safety and healthcare outcomes.
The Empathy Project (summer 2016) Co-taught with Dr. Henry C. Lee, Seamus Harte, and Hamsika Chandrasekar. This class was for Stanford medical students to experience the challenges patients with chronic disease face day-to-day through direct observation, and then communicate their insights through storytelling techniques.
Medical Device Design: Identifying Problems Through Observation (January 2017 winter pop-out class) Co-taught with Dr. Nicole Yamada, Dr. Henry Lee, Dr. Ruth Ann Crystal and Dr. Janene Fuerch. Students observed two neonatal and obstetric medical procedures (infant intubation and maternal hemorrhage protocol), then analyzed the scenarios by watching the simulation videos with our clinicians. Students also interviewed the clinicians about these procedures using field guides they created. Information was synthesized, and students presented their user, the clinical problems they identified, and an innovation/new vision. Students groups presented their work to a panel of designers and clinical experts. This multi-day workshop was held at The Center For Advanced Pediatric & Perinatal Education.
Medical Device Design: Identifying Problems Through Observation & Hands-On Training (April 2017 winter pop-out class) Co-taught with Dr. Nicole Yamada, Dr. Henry Lee, Dr. Ruth Ann Crystal and Dr. Janene Fuerch. Students observed and learned (hands-on) how to perform two neonatal and obstetric medical procedures (infant intubation and maternal hemorrhage protocol), then analyzed the scenarios by watching the simulation videos with our clinicians. Students also interviewed the clinicians about these procedures using field guides they created. Information was synthesized, and students presented their user, the clinical problems they identified, and an innovation/new vision. Students groups presented their work to a panel of designers and clinical experts. This multi-day workshop was held at The Center For Advanced Pediatric & Perinatal Education.
Design For Child Health Equity: Redesigning Healthcare Delivery (spring 2018) Co-taught with Dr. Lee Sanders, Chief of General Pediatrics, Stanford. In this class, our aim was to imagine novel interventions that could reduce health disparities for children with medical complexity (CMC). Students designed products and services that aimed to improve care among low-resource patients and their families.
Design For Pediatric Feeding Challenges (winter/spring 2019) Co-taught with Dr. Henry Lee, Neonatologist. In this class we focused on the pediatric population who have feeding challenges in the neonatal ICU, the labor and delivery room, and at home once discharged. Students designed novel medical devices to improve care for children struggling with various feeding challenges.
Designing Healthcare For Social Justice (winter/spring 2020) Co-taught with Dr. Lee Sanders, Chief of General Pediatrics, Stanford. In this class, our aim was to imagine novel interventions that could reduce health disparities for children with medical complexity (CMC). Students designed products and services that aimed to improve care among low-resource patients and their families.
Designing Healthcare For Social Justice: Telehealth Design & Access (fall 2020) Co-taught with Dr. Lee Sanders, Chief of General Pediatrics, Stanford. Telehealthcare has found itself at a point of remarkable growth and change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our class asked students to consider what aspects of telehealth are most efficacious and then challenged them to design solutions to ensure equitable delivery of care among marginalized groups impacted by systemic racism. Students identified healthcare disparities with stakeholders from underserved communities and prototyped innovative technology-based service designs to address the digital divide.
What students have to say:
“As I look back on my persona- the frustrated and helpless teacher now to me is the deeply passionate teacher brimming with love. The frustrated parent is now to me one that carries enormous burdens in their child, but who carry them with grace, dignity, and inspiration. And the patient, as always, is the biggest source of inspiration there will ever be. I’m thankful for how you were so passionate and encouraging regarding the design process and helping those in need. I think that the fact that I was able to present last Friday and receive so much positive feedback is a testament to your care and dedication. ”
“This is a wonderful course for a student interested in the medical space. For someone coming in with an engineering background, there is opportunity for you to prototype interesting technologies.”
“This course is very targeted, so you’re working on a very specific field. Be sure that you really want to do deep user research and make a product when you take this class. Also, you will be working with both BioDesign and d. school approaches.”
“Amazing d.School course. Experiential and captivating.”
“I learned and experienced the design thinking process very well. I feel very equipped to take my ethnographic research skills, my need-finding, my prototyping, my synthesis skills, and my pitching skills into a real world setting.”
“This two-quarter course was a commitment, but it was one of the few classes that I’ve taken at Stanford that have meaningful, productive, and applicable to my life.”
“Jules Sherman is an incredible mentor, both in her dedication and intentionality to the course material as well as her expertise and connections in the industry. Her passion was infectious and this course would not be what it is without her.”
“It’s a serious commitment but you will learn a lot from it.”
“I learned more about the difficulties that families and caregivers face when caring for children with special healthcare needs, and how race, class, culture, etc can exacerbate those difficulties.”
“Good practice of design-thinking techniques that encourage new and creative approaches to understanding problems. I felt particularly challenged and scintillated by the storytelling exercise and the emotion beat graph exercise. I also knew very little in general about the challenges faced by the CMC community— our exchanges with family and healthcare workers this quarter increased my empathy for the community.”
