A Longitudinal Graduate Medical Education Curriculum in Clinical Informatics: Function, Structure, and Evaluation

 

 Buy Article Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Background There is a need to integrate informatics education into medical training programs given the rise in demand for health informaticians and the call on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the body of undergraduate medical education for implementation of informatics curricula.

Objectives This report outlines a 2-year longitudinal informatics curriculum now currently in its seventh year of implementation. This report is intended to inform U.S. Graduate Medical Education (GME) program leaders of the necessary requirements for implementation of a similar program at their institution.

Methods The curriculum aligns with the core content for the subspecialty of clinical informatics (CI) and is led by a multidisciplinary team with both informatics and clinical expertise. This educational pathway has a low direct cost and is a practical example of the academic learning health system (aLHS) in action. The pathway is housed within an internal medicine department at a large tertiary academic medical center.

Results The curriculum has yielded 13 graduates from both internal medicine (11, 85%) and pediatrics (2, 15%) whose projects have spanned acute and ambulatory care and multiple specialties. Projects have included clinical decision support tools, of which some will be leveraged as substrate in applications seeking extramural funding. Graduates have gone on to CI board certification and fellowship, as well as several other specialties, creating a distributed network of clinicians with specialized experience in applied CI.

Conclusion An informatics curriculum at the GME level may increase matriculation to CI fellowship and more broadly increase development of the CI workforce through building a cadre of physicians with health information technology expertise across specialties without formal CI board certification. We offer an example of a longitudinal pathway, which is rooted in aLHS principles. The pathway requires a dedicated multidisciplinary team and departmental and information technology leadership support.

Protection of Human and Animal Subjects

Participation was voluntary and does not pose undue risk.

Publication History

Received: 21 March 2024

Accepted: 01 October 2024

Accepted Manuscript online:
03 October 2024

Article published online:
29 January 2025

© 2025. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

• References

• 1 Lingham V, Chandwarkar A, Miller M. et al. A systematic approach to the design and implementation of clinical informatics fellowship programs. Appl Clin Inform 2023; 14 (05) 951-960
  Thieme ConnectPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 2 Informatics academic programs. AMIA. 2024 . Accessed July 16, 2024 at: https://amia.org/careers-certifications/informatics-academic-programs
  PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 3 Zainal H, Tan JK, Xiaohui X, Thumboo J, Yong FK. Clinical informatics training in medical school education curricula: a scoping review. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2023; 30 (03) 604-616
  CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 4 Hare AJ, Soegaard Ballester JM, Gabriel PE, Adusumalli S, Hanson CW. Training digital natives to transform healthcare: a 5-tiered approach for integrating clinical informatics into undergraduate medical education. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2022; 30 (01) 139-143
  CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 5 Patel TN, Chaise AJ, Hanna JJ. et al. Structure and funding of clinical informatics fellowships: a national survey of program directors. Appl Clin Inform 2024; 15 (01) 155-163
  Thieme ConnectPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 6 You JG, Samal L, Leung TI. et al. A call to support informatics curricula in U.S.-based residency education. Appl Clin Inform 2023; 14 (05) 992-995
  Thieme ConnectPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 7 Chaudhry B, Wang J, Wu S. et al. Systematic review: impact of health information technology on quality, efficiency, and costs of medical care. Ann Intern Med 2006; 144 (10) 742-752
  CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 8 What are the advantages of Electronic Health Records? What are the advantages of electronic health records? | HealthIT.gov. March 8, 2022. Accessed February 20, 2024 at: https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-are-advantages-electronic-health-records
  PubMed
• 9 Menachemi N, Collum TH. Benefits and drawbacks of electronic health record systems. Risk Manag Healthc Policy 2011; 4: 47-55
  CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 10 Upadhyay S, Hu HF. A qualitative analysis of the impact of electronic health records (EHR) on healthcare quality and safety: clinicians' lived experiences. Health Serv Insights 2022 ;15:11786329211070722
  PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 11 Palojoki S, Pajunen T, Saranto K, Lehtonen L. Electronic health record-related safety concerns: a cross-sectional survey of electronic health record users. JMIR Med Inform 2016; 4 (02) e13
  CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 12 Uslu A, Stausberg J. Value of the electronic medical record for hospital care: update from the literature. J Med Internet Res 2021; 23 (12) e26323
  CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 13 Kruse CS, Mileski M, Vijaykumar AG, Viswanathan SV, Suskandla U, Chidambaram Y. Impact of electronic health records on long-term care facilities: systematic review. JMIR Med Inform 2017; 5 (03) e35
  CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 14 Bakken S. An informatics infrastructure is essential for evidence-based practice. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2001; 8 (03) 199-201
  CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 15 Hron JD, Lehmann CU, Long SW. et al. Creation and evaluation of a clinical informatics match: initial findings. Appl Clin Inform 2023; 14 (05) 973-980
  Thieme ConnectPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 16 McLane TM, Hoyt R, Hodge C, Weinfurter E, Reardon EE, Monsen KA. What industry wants: an empirical analysis of health informatics job postings. Appl Clin Inform 2021; 12 (02) 285-292
  Thieme ConnectPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 17 Gardner RM, Overhage JM, Steen EB. et al; AMIA Board of Directors. Core content for the subspecialty of clinical informatics. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2009; 16 (02) 153-157
  CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 18 Rosenthal GE, McClain DA, High KP. et al. The academic learning health system: a framework for integrating the multiple missions of academic medical centers. Acad Med 2023; 98 (09) 1002-1007
  CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 19 Internal Medicine Residency Clinical Scholars in Informatics Pathway – Wake Forest School of Medicine. Wake Forest University School of Medicine. 2024 . Accessed July 16, 2024 at: https://school.wakehealth.edu/education-and-training/residencies-and-fellowships/internal-medicine-residency/curriculum-overview/clinical-scholars-in-informatics-pathway
  PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 20 Clinical Informatics Resident elective. Clinical Informatics Resident Elective. Vanderbilt Clinical Informatics Center. 2024 . Accessed July 16, 2024 at: https://www.vumc.org/vclic/clinical-informatics-resident-elective
  PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 21 Mai MV, Luo BT, Orenstein EW, Luberti AA. A model for clinical informatics education for residents: addressing an unmet need. Appl Clin Inform 2018; 9 (02) 261-267
  Thieme ConnectPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 22 Introduction to clinical informatics elective. NYU Langone Health. 2024 . Accessed July 16, 2024 at: https://med.nyu.edu/education/md-degree/registration-student-records/elective-catalog/interdepartmental/introduction-to-clinical-informatics
  PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 23 Kohn MS, Topaloglu U, Kirkendall ES, Dharod A, Wells BJ, Gurcan M. Creating learning health systems and the emerging role of biomedical informatics. Learn Health Syst 2021; 6 (01) e10259
  CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 24 Friedman CP. What is unique about learning health systems?. Learn Health Syst 2022; 6 (03) e10328
  CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 25 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2016. Scoring guidance. National Institutes of Health. Accessed October 9, 2024 at: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/review/rev_prep/scoring.htm
  PubMed
• 26 Bell DS, Baldwin K, Bell III EJ. et al. Characteristics of the national applicant pool for clinical informatics fellowships (2016-2017). AMIA Annu Symp Proc 2018; 2018: 225-231
  PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 27 Bell DS, Baldwin K, Bell Iii EJ. Characteristics of the national applicant pool for clinical informatics fellowships (2018-2020). AMIA Annu Symp Proc 2023; 2022: 241-248
  PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 28 Menninger WW. Adaptation and morale. Predictable responses to life change. Bull Menninger Clin 1988; 52 (03) 198-210
  PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 29 Singer JS, Cheng EM, Baldwin K, Pfeffer MA. UCLA Health Physician Informaticist Committee. The UCLA health resident informaticist program - a novel clinical informatics training program. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2017; 24 (04) 832-840
  CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
• 30 Vitiello E, Kane M, Hutto A, Hall A. Building for the future: the creation of a residency training track to foster innovation through clinical informatics in psychiatry. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2020; 27 (11) 1747-1751
  CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar