This case study used participatory design to run a scenario analysis workshop at Trinity College Dublin’s School of Medicine, exploring how global megatrends should shape medical education. Educators, policymakers, clinicians and students imagined futures driven by digital connectivity and climate change. Together, they identified the competencies, mindsets and structural changes that future healthcare professionals and medical schools will need.
What was the context of our study?
Medical education must evolve to prepare healthcare professionals for a rapidly changing world. Beyond digital literacy, clinicians will need new competencies to navigate global megatrends such as shifting disease burden, technological advances, climate change and demographic change. New roles will emerge, and students’ motivations and expectations are changing too.
What did we do?
In October 2024, we ran a scenario analysis workshop at Trinity College Dublin’s School of Medicine using a participatory design approach. Digital connectivity and climate change were chosen as key drivers. Medical educators, policymakers, clinicians and students worked through group discussions, structured boards and physical cards, and we analysed their insights thematically.
What did we find?
The workshop identified what future healthcare professionals will need:
- Competencies: Complex adaptive systems thinking, patient-centeredness, continuous learning and participatory health.
- Mindsets: Sustainability, prevention-focused care and technological adaptability.
- Structural changes: More interdisciplinary collaboration, ethical leadership and flexible curricula.
Actionable steps included integrating sustainability and digital health into curricula, valuing emotional intelligence in student selection, and adopting adaptive learning models.
Why is this important?
The study shows the value of participatory design for aligning medical education with global megatrends. Its findings echo foresight work by the World Health Organization and the European Commission, and offer a framework other medical schools can use to anticipate change and reform their curricula proactively.
Reference
Giunti G, Glynn R, Hennessy J, Doherty CP. Participatory Design Approach in the Use of Scenario Analysis for Futureproofing Medical Education: Case Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2025;27:e73173. https://doi.org/10.2196/73173