Training residents in medical informatics

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Informatics
• Family Medicine Training

Background:

• Medical educators advocate for enhanced medical informatics training.
• Few family practice residency programs offer substantial informatics education.
• Existing programs have limited success in informatics teaching.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of successful medical informatics education approaches.
• To identify barriers hindering informatics training in residency programs.
• To propose a structured process for developing family medicine informatics curricula.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature review of informatics teaching applications.
• Analysis of barriers including resident computer use and faculty skills.
• Development of an eight-step curriculum development process based on literature and expert recommendations.

Main Results:

• Identified promising informatics tools like palmtop devices, e-mail, and decision support software.
• Highlighted barriers such as low resident computer ownership and lack of faculty computer skill data.
• Proposed an eight-step process for curriculum development: needs assessment, expert review, faculty support, human-centered approach, curriculum integration, computer access, practical training, and outcome measurement.

Conclusions:

• Effective medical informatics training requires addressing identified barriers.
• A structured, eight-step approach can guide the development of robust family medicine informatics curricula.
• Implementing this process will enhance resident preparedness in medical informatics.