Bringing electronic patient records into health professional education: towards an integrative framework

In this paper we discuss our approach for integrating electronic patient records into health professional education. Electronic patient record (EPR) use is increasing globally. The EPR is considered the cornerstone of the modernization and streamlining of healthcare worldwide. However, despite the importance of the EPR, health professional education in much of the world provides health professional students (who will become the practicing health professionals of the future) with limited access or knowledge about the EPR. New ways of exposing students to EPRs will be needed in order to ensure that health professionals will adopt and use this complex technology wisely and effect the positive benefits EPRs are expected to bring to healthcare globally. In this paper we describe: (a) a framework we have developed for integrating EPRs into health professional education and (b) an innovative Web portal, known as the University of Victoria Electronic Health Record (EHR) Educational Portal (which houses a number of EPRs) that can be used to explore the integration of EPRs in health professional education. It is hoped that adoption and use of EPRs will ultimately be improved through the use of the portal to allow students virtual and ubiquitous access to example EPRs, coupled with principled educational approaches for integrating EPR technology into health professional curricula.