Coding Clinic: A Multidisciplinary Approach Supporting Early-Stage Medical Data Science Research

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Computational Biology
• Health Data Science

Background:

• Early-career researchers face significant challenges in data science and software development within medical research.
• Effective data management and analysis are crucial for advancing biomedical discoveries.
• Interdisciplinary collaboration is essential for tackling complex research questions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the establishment and services of the Coding Clinic at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
• To highlight the support provided to early-career researchers in data science and software development.
• To demonstrate how the Coding Clinic addresses challenges in medical research data handling and analysis.

Main Methods:

• Offering consultations and pair programming sessions for researchers.
• Providing access to open-source resources and tools.
• Facilitating knowledge exchange between computer/data scientists and medical researchers.

Main Results:

• The Coding Clinic has developed a popular consultation format in a unique research support setting.
• Enhanced data management capabilities for participating researchers.
• Improved electronic health record (EHR) analysis techniques and adoption.

Conclusions:

• The Coding Clinic model effectively supports early-career researchers in navigating data science challenges.
• This initiative fosters interdisciplinarity and enhances the quality of medical research.
• The consultation format is a valuable and increasingly popular resource for the research community.