Preparing Future Pediatric Care Providers with a Clinical Informatics Elective.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Informatics
• Clinical Informatics

Background:

• Clinical informatics (CI) is crucial for modern healthcare data management.
• Electronic health records (EHRs) necessitate CI proficiency among medical professionals.
• Medical trainees often lack sufficient opportunities for CI education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate a clinical informatics rotation for pediatric and medicine-pediatric residents.
• To provide foundational CI knowledge and practical EHR skills.
• To assess the impact of the rotation on residents' understanding and confidence.

Main Methods:

• A CI rotation was developed at a tertiary pediatric care center, featuring personalized schedules and faculty mentorship.
• Trainees completed informatics projects, knowledge assessments, and pre/post-rotation self-efficacy surveys.
• Paired t-test analyses were used to evaluate changes in perception.

Main Results:

• 31 residents completed the rotation, contributing to various healthcare improvement initiatives.
• Mean knowledge assessment scores significantly increased from 77% to 92% (p ≤ 0.05).
• Residents reported significant improvements in understanding and confidence with CI concepts and EHR tools (p ≤ 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Medical trainees express strong interest and value in CI education.
• The developed curriculum effectively improved residents' understanding, self-efficacy, and confidence in CI and EHR utilization.
• Further research is needed to evaluate the long-term impact on clinical practice proficiency.