Health outcomes, implementation, & methodological pluralism
The ability to draw a clear connection between a HPE initiative and patient outcomes is the holy grail of HPE research.
This connection, however, is extremely difficult to establish because the influence of education is often not instant, and patient outcomes depend on the system in which the patient is receiving care rather than the individual doctor alone. The other connection that requires attention is between knowledge derived from research and the translation to educational initiatives.
The complexity of the tasks of measurement and implementation will most likely require researchers to amalgamate and embrace the best methodological approaches from a variety of disciplines and epistemological origins. To contribute to the body of knowledge and move the field forward, it would also be necessary to anchor the research to a conceptual theoretical framework,
[2,3] and to elevate the research purpose beyond description (“what was done”) and justification (“did it work?”) to clarification (“why or how did it work?”).
[4]