Ten Topics to Get Started in Medical Informatics Research

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Health Data Science
• Computational Medicine

Background:

• Clinical data generation is vast and heterogeneous, offering significant potential for patients and research.
• Medical informatics research has advanced concepts and standards, but complexity hinders broader engagement.
• Interdisciplinary communication challenges exist among physicians, computational experts, experimentalists, students, and patient representatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present 10 important topics in medical informatics research, focusing on Germany.
• To improve interdisciplinary communication and lower entry barriers for new stakeholders.
• To provide a starting point for collaborations and offer guidance on data handling and utilization.

Main Methods:

• A viewpoint paper outlining 10 key topics in medical informatics.
• Introduction of topics covering data regulations, harmonization, processing, evaluation, visualization, and dissemination.
• Provision of best practice guidance, resources for further learning, and curriculum integration examples.

Main Results:

• Readers will gain context for clinical and research data within medical informatics.
• Understanding of data privacy, storage, interoperability standards, and data transfer processes.
• Appreciation for technical approaches to maximize clinical data potential.

Conclusions:

• Recognizing these 10 topics can facilitate better understanding and utilization of clinical data.
• Improved interdisciplinary communication is crucial for advancing medical informatics research and application.
• The proposed topics and curriculum integration can foster broader participation and collaboration in the field.