What is it about?
Psychologists are trained to understand how people think, learn, and work together, skills that can improve healthcare. However, psychologists are not often aware of or placed in healthcare improvement roles. This paper outlines how psychologists can lead improvement efforts and how psychologists can get started with quality improvement work.
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Why is it important?
This paper highlights an untapped opportunity to improve healthcare by using psychologists' unique skills in system improvement, measurement, team science, and behavior change. By showing how psychology training fits naturally within healthcare quality improvement, this paper sheds light on an important career path psychologists should pursue.
Perspectives
I hope this article inspires psychology graduate students across all areas (e.g., I/O , cognitive, social, and counseling psychology) to pursue a career in healthcare, specifically healthcare improvement. Psychology graduate programs should consider a structured curriculum, pathway, or “track” focused on quality improvement. Given psychologists' rigorous training in research methodology, measurement, and behavioral change, hospital and academic medical center administrators and human resources departments should seek psychologists for quality improvement roles.
Kelley Arredondo
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Psychology in health care: How psychologists’ training translates to quality improvement., Psychological Services, April 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/ser0000961.
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