Sandra Kaus was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. Then, two weeks later, she learned it could have been caught a year before. “All I could think about was my boys," Mrs. Kaus said. "Who was going to raise them?”

Judith Dixon is a nurse and health visitor for the National Health Service Tayside in Angus, Scotland. She and a team of nurses conducted a QI project to help parents play with their babies through the IHI Open School Quality Improvement Practicum.

Ravi Patel, a student at Valdosta State University, had a kidney transplant after getting dialysis three times a week for almost three years. He describes how the experience inspired him to study health care administration and join the IHI Open School.

Shai Mann-Robison, 14, is a typical 8th grader in many ways. He likes reading, listening to music, and playing soccer on his school’s team in Watertown, Massachusetts. Shai created a short video with LEGO blocks about getting an MRI that caught the eye of the IHI Open School team as a great example of what young people and patients can contribute to health care improvement.