Mission: THINQ aims to radically shape care delivery by building transformative interdisciplinary platforms to catalyze and nurture innovation at UCLA that lead to large scale impact.
Who We Are: THINQ is a health care improvement team within the UCLA Department of Medicine that aims to foster innovation and collaboration by forming inter-professional teams to catapult new solutions to real-world clinical problems specific to the Department of Medicine patient population. Our ultimate goal is to create an ideal environment in which providers, staff, and patients feel most comfortable.
We are a motivated group of undergraduate and graduate students working with physicians at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center to conduct clinical research and make proposals for the betterment of healthcare quality. Our program involves research, physician shadowing experience, speaker events from individuals in various healthcare fields, as well as discussions about diverse topics in the healthcare industry that affect patients and physicians. We shadow patient rounds, collect data, present research, and review papers on health care in order to propose solutions.
Time Commitment: 4-6 hours/week
Organization Size: ~30 people
Being a THINQ member typically involves shadowing, clinical research work, and examining issues in healthcare from an interdisciplinary lens. You will have the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with physicians and other medical staff to understand how health care strategies can impact patient care.
We are the only organization on campus focused on researching quality improvement within healthcare and use interdisciplinary platforms to create innovative research and solutions at UCLA that lead to large scale impact.
A general meeting is typically two hours long and involves recapping shadowing shifts with committee presentations (Journal Club, THINQ Tank, Social Justice, and Leadership Development).
Students are provided opportunities to shadow physicians and engage in clinical research studies focusing on quality improvement. We have had opportunities this year to present at several national undergraduate research conferences and submit manuscripts to undergraduate research journals. We offer mentorship, professional development, and the opportunity to view medicine through an intersectional perspective.