Medical Informatics
Content
What is Medical Informatics?
Medical informatics professionals use information technology to benefit the health and human services industry. They create and maintain new ways for hospitals to keep records, making essential medical information as accessible as possible. Medical informatics specialists create new ways for hospitals and research centers to communicate with one another, while streamlining the interpersonal communication between staff members and patients.
Though every industry employs informatics specialists, they make the strongest impact in the medical field. The speed and accuracy with which medical information is conveyed can be the difference between life and death. For instance, if a doctor prescribes a common medication that the patient is allergic to, the effects could be devastating. But, if the doctor can review the patient's detailed medical records, indicating allergies and medical history, this sort of situation can be avoided.
While this sounds very similar to most computer science jobs, many informatics specialists work in a more applied fashion than computer scientists. Medical informatics specialists are more concerned with the user-compatibility and interface of the technology.
This young and growing field offers many opportunities to medical informatics graduates. Since this is a new field, it gives the individual the opportunity to enter an industry that is poised to expand in usefulness and complexity. The graduates of today's degree programs in medical informatics will be the pioneers of the field.
Graduates in medical informatics work in a variety of environments. These include hospitals, medical research laboratories, health insurance companies, Internet companies, health information technology suppliers, or consulting organizations. Within each of these environments lie opportunities as database administrators, project managers, project designers, computer programmers, researchers, or systems analysts.
What the medical informatics specialist does within these areas depends entirely on their concentration. Generally, they provide technical support for databases, they design new systems, and they make purchasing decisions for new equipment. They also evaluate usability, they figure out ways to enhance systems, they check data for accuracy, and they train staff members how to access the database.
Students in medical informatics can choose to specialize within any of these areas:
• Bioinformatics
• Public Health Informatics
• Organizational Informatics
• Social Informatics
• Clinical Informatics
Bioinformatics specialists concern themselves with biomedical information. How to store, retrieve, share and use this information is critical for solving problems and making decisions in biomedical science. This field also encompasses the specialties of chemical informatics, nursing informatics, and dental informatics.
Public health informatics involves using information technology and computer science to influence the way the public learns about health and health care. It focuses on providing public access to the latest medical research, as well as supplying public health practices with the information they need.
Organizational informatics specialists try to bring an organization together through the use of information technology and computerized systems. They focus on resolving electronic communication issues between different branches of a medical organization or company.
Social informatics specialists study the ways in which information technology affects social environments, as well as the way social environments affect information technology. Social informatics specialists study all the social aspects of computer science and information technology.
Clinical informatics deals with the use of information technology in clinical research and patient care. It also involves the use of information technology in medical education, playing a role in educating at-home patients as well as future medical practitioners.
The career opportunities for an individual graduating with a medical informatics degree are numerous, and the industry continues to grow. A career in medical informatics can be an excellent opportunity for an individual to bring their specialized computer skills to medicine, helping to make medical professionals more effective and providing a valuable public service.
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Is a Career in Medical Informatics Right for You?
Choosing to enter a degree program in medical informatics is a big decision. Because of the specialized nature of the field, it requires commitment from the student. Students that are currently computer science or information technology majors can make the transition quite easily, since both career tracks require many of the basic computer skills.
Certain characteristics and skills are necessary to excel in medical informatics. These skills must either be brought with the student into the program or developed as the student moves through the program. These skills and characteristics include:
• Attention to detail.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Problem solving.
• Troubleshooting.
• Ability to approach computer problems in a creative manner.
• Ability to work independently.
• Ability to apply technology in a practical, real-world way.
• Ability to explain complicated material in a way that anyone could understand.
• Intimate knowledge of computer hardware and software being employed.
• Grace under pressure.
• Working with a wide variety of associates, including programmers, managers, designers, and administrators.
• Sincere desire to help people in the medical community, including patients and doctors.
If this sounds like you, then a degree in medical informatics might be just the thing for you!
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What can you do with a Degree in Medical Informatics?
Medical informatics is a growing field with excellent career prospects for professionals with a degree in the field. Medical informatics specialists work in a variety of environments, including hospitals, clinics, healthcare and insurance agencies, medical information technology firms, research institutes, and universities.
The demand for specialists in medical informatics is on the rise. While other types of information technology jobs are being outsourced to overseas companies, medical informatics specialists continue to hold firm due to the complex nature of the field and the high level of contact required between the informatics specialist and their employer. The users of medical information technology need the specialist close in case problems or questions arise, so job security is one positive aspect of a career in medical informatics.
Some examples of job titles in medical informatics:
• Medical Informatics Project Manager:
These specialists oversee a team of other informatics specialists to create databases for hospitals, schools, research institutes, or clinics. They may also train the staff of their organization to use databases effectively
• Medical Informatics Project Designer:
Designers tailor different types of systems to an individual client's needs by figuring out the most effective way for them to collect, store, and access data.
• Medical Informatics Researcher or Research Assistant:
Working at the fore of their field, medical informatics researchers attempt to discover new ways of utilizing technology to benefit medical professionals and their patients.
• Medical Informatics Systems Analyst:
These specialists analyze existing systems and make decisions and recommendations on how to update or streamline them to maximize efficiency.
• Teacher or Professor of Medical Informatics:
Teaching the next generation of medical informatics professionals, these educators must be skilled at communicating difficult and complex concepts to students.
• Medical Database Administrator:
Once a database has been set up, there needs to be someone around to maintain it, foreseeing and avoiding problems, as well as troubleshooting for the users of the system. This person must be able to answer the users' questions quickly, solving problems as soon as they arise.
Source:
Guide to College Majors in Medical Informatics, World Wide Learn, Updated 8 Nov 2007, Accessed 17 Sept 2008, http://www.worldwidelearn.com/online-education-guide/health-medical/medical-informatics-major.htm
For more information on the Medical Informatics IS&T Honors modules, Post-graduate Diploma in Medical, Informatics, Masters of Medical Science (Medical Informatics) and PhD (Medical Informatics) contact Yashik Singh:
Tel: 031 260 4543 (Medical School); 031 260 8338 (Westville); email: singhy@ukzn.ac.za
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Topics from Modules Offered in 2009
| Medical AI (16 credits) | Electronic Medical Records (16 credits) |
| Introduction to AI | Generic data modeling |
| NN introduction, learning, BP network introduction | HL-7 |
| BP network | Standards in Medicine |
| BP network training | District Health Information System |
| Bayesian network | GUI |
| Bayesian network learning | Storage of Genetic and Image Data |
| SOM | Information retrieval
|
| Evolutionary computing |
| Particle swarm optimization, Gene expression programming |
| RBFN |
| Fuzzy systems and Fuzzy control |
| Research assignment |
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Introduction to Medical Information Systems (16 credit)
Introduction
There are many areas of healthcare where computers are now used and increasingly relied on. This module will discuss the areas of healthcare enables by IT and communication systems and the main techniques used. Statement of specific learning outcomes:
Learners will acquire knowledge of the:
• role of medical informatics and medical and health information systems in SA and other developing countries.
• Critical success and failure factors of Medical information systems
• Current research in the domain
• Various medical informatics systems
Prescribed book
Medical Informatics: Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine,
by Edward H. Shortliffe, Leslie E. Perreault, Gio Wiederhold, Lawrence M. Fagan, Lawrence M. Fagan, Springer; 2nd ed. 2000. Corr. 2nd printing edition, ISBN-10: 0387984720 or ISBN-13: 978-0387984728
Teaching Method
The teaching method will be of the form of facilitated discussion, which you will lead in the class. Each week you will be given a set of minimum readings, which must be supplemented with more material. You must understand all topics indicated in the course outline for each week and complete the homework assigned and submit it by the due date (which is usually in one week’s time from the date the homework was assigned
Assessment
Homework (10%), Class participation (5%), Assignments (25%), Examination (60%)
Note that there will be no extensions given on any assignment, homework or project. Each late day incurs a penalty of 15%
Topics
| Introduction to medical informatics | Medical Data | Ethics and basic legal considerations | EMRS, HIS, PIS |
| Bioinformatics, | Distributed information management | System architectures, design and engineering | Evaluation, impact and technology assessment |
| Computerized clinical guidelines | Clinical decision support systems | Information retrieval systems | Imaging and Computers in Education |
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