Developing and Implementing a Clinical Informatics Curriculum

We developed and implemented a customized internal clinical informatics (CI) curriculum for the UC Irvine CI Fellowship program. The goal was to transition from an externally sourced curriculum to a more focused, internally developed program, aligning with feedback from early fellows and the evolving practical needs of clinical informatics. By designing this curriculum in-house, we sought to provide a more efficient, cost-effective, and relevant educational experience for fellows.

The curriculum was designed over a one-year period, beginning in July 2021 and launched in July 2022. The development process involved collaboration among core clinical informatics faculty, organizing the content into 13 thematic blocks, each spanning four weeks. Each block included a mix of pre-recorded lectures for asynchronous learning and interactive sessions for applied, synchronous learning. The curriculum was designed to cycle twice over the course of the two-year fellowship, with second-year fellows taking on greater teaching responsibilities to solidify their knowledge. Feedback was gathered from graduating fellows and used to iteratively refine the content and structure.

Feedback from fellows during the first year of implementation was overwhelmingly positive, with evaluations indicating high satisfaction regarding the relevance, focus, and practical application of the content. Quantitative and qualitative feedback suggested that fellows found the internal curriculum more aligned with their learning goals compared to the prior external curriculum. Modifications were made based on fellow input to adjust the number and structure of interactive sessions, ensuring high-yield learning.

This case study highlights the successful development and implementation of a customized clinical informatics curriculum at UC Irvine. The curriculum offers a more tailored, responsive, and comprehensive educational model, addressing both financial constraints and the need for a practical, focused learning experience. This initiative provides valuable insights and a potential framework for other institutions seeking to transition to an internal informatics curriculum.