A Longitudinal Graduate Medical Education Curriculum in Clinical Informatics: Function, Structure, and Evaluation

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Informatics
• Academic Medicine

Background:

• Growing demand for health informaticians necessitates informatics education in medical training.
• Accreditation bodies advocate for integrating informatics curricula into graduate medical education (GME).

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a 2-year longitudinal informatics curriculum implemented over seven years.
• To guide U.S. GME program leaders on establishing similar informatics programs.

Main Methods:

• Curriculum aligns with clinical informatics (CI) core content, led by a multidisciplinary team.
• Utilizes an academic learning health system (aLHS) model within an internal medicine department.
• Characterized by low direct cost and practical application in a tertiary academic medical center.

Main Results:

• Graduated 13 physicians (internal medicine and pediatrics) with projects in acute/ambulatory care and various specialties.
• Developed clinical decision support tools, with potential for extramural funding applications.
• Graduates pursued CI board certification, fellowships, and other specialties, forming a distributed CI-experienced physician network.

Conclusions:

• GME-level informatics curricula can boost CI fellowship enrollment and the CI workforce.
• Develops physicians with health information technology expertise across specialties, including those without formal CI certification.
• Highlights a longitudinal pathway rooted in aLHS principles, requiring multidisciplinary teams and leadership support.