Health Informatics Course Research Articles

Pedagogical Principles in Implementing a Data Visualization Project in an Undergraduate Public Health Informatics Course.

The Applied Public Health Informatics Competency Model lists "data analysis, visualization, and reporting" as one of the eight competencies when teaching public health informatics. Thus, public health informatics students need to develop knowledge and skills in visualizing public health data. Unfortunately, there is limited work that discusses pedagogical principles that could guide the implementation of pedagogical activities related to data visualization in public health informatics. This study aimed to introduce, discuss, and reflect on pedagogical principles that were implemented for a data visualization project in an undergraduate public health informatics course. A reflective teaching approach was used to guide the discussion and reflection on how pedagogical principles were implemented for a data visualization project in an undergraduate public health informatics course. The generic implementation framework (i.e., preimplementation, implementation, and postimplementation) was used to organize the discussion of the course's implementation. Four pedagogical principles were implemented as part of a data visualization project in an undergraduate public health informatics course: scaffolding (i.e., outputs built on top of each other), constructivism (i.e., students apply knowledge and work in teams to create a dashboard), critical consciousness (i.e., embedding social determinants of health (SDOH) in their dashboard), and equity and inclusion (i.e., using a free data visualization software that is easy to use for beginners and is used by public health institutions). Postimplementation reflection revealed areas of improvement, such as enhancing group advising, adding more SDOH variables in the dashboard, and plans for scalability. A data visualization project in an undergraduate public health informatics course could benefit from implementing multiple pedagogical principles. Overall, creating dashboards can be a learning tool to enhance data visualization skills among undergraduate public health informatics students. Dashboards can also emphasize the impact of health disparities and inequities in public health by incorporating the principles of SDOH.

Results and implications for generative AI in a large introductory biomedical and health informatics course

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems have performed well at many biomedical tasks, but few studies have assessed their performance directly compared to students in higher-education courses. We compared student knowledge-assessment scores with prompting of 6 large-language model (LLM) systems as they would be used by typical students in a large online introductory course in biomedical and health informatics that is taken by graduate, continuing education, and medical students. The state-of-the-art LLM systems were prompted to answer multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and final exam questions. We compared the scores for 139 students (30 graduate students, 85 continuing education students, and 24 medical students) to the LLM systems. All of the LLMs scored between the 50th and 75th percentiles of students for MCQ and final exam questions. The performance of LLMs raises questions about student assessment in higher education, especially in courses that are knowledge-based and online.

Self-Reported Learning Strategies and Preferences in Health Informatics.

Despite the proliferation of educational programmes in Health Informatics (HI) worldwide, there is limited knowledge regarding students' preferences and learning strategies in HI courses. To address this gap, we conducted a study to gather and analyse data from three HI courses. Employing the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and theories of deep and surface learning, we designed a questionnaire to collect data. The analysis of students' responses indicates that machine learning emerges as one of the most interesting topics, while certain topics such as data wrangling of genomics data were more challenging for students. Students expressed a preference for sequential learning. They exhibited multimodal tendencies regarding the type of learning resources, with tendency to prefer learning resources that have more visual contents. In all three courses, learners reported using deep learning strategy rather than surface learning, yet they appear to struggle with employing organisation, elaboration, and peer learning tactics. This study provides valuable insights into HI education, offering recommendations for educators, learners, and researchers to enhance HI education.

Preparing Pharmacists for the Digital Age: How Pharmacy Courses are Adapting to Challenges and Opportunities

ObjectiveAs the digitalization of health accelerates, the fusion of pharmacy and informatics becomes crucial. Pharmacy education must adapt to equip professionals for this evolving landscape. This study aims to compare pharmacy curricula in Brazil and the United States of America, focusing on health informatics, to uncover challenges and opportunities in training pharmacists for the digital era. MethodsA cross-sectional, descriptive analysis was conducted on pharmacy curricula from leading Brazilian and American universities in early 2024. Two independent researchers collected data, concentrating on health informatics–related courses. Curriculum analysis used the n-gram technique for linguistic pattern identification in course descriptions. ResultsThe analysis included curricula from 147 Brazilian and 140 American institutions. American programs had more health informatics courses, with greater integration into pharmacy and higher workloads. Brazilian courses were fewer, less specialized, and less integrated with pharmacy practice. Bi-gram analysis showed that the United States emphasized pharmaceutical practice and technologies, while Brazil focused more broadly on public health. Challenges include Brazil’s slower integration of health informatics, impacting competitiveness. The study highlights opportunities to enhance curricula in both countries, emphasizing the importance of health informatics courses. ConclusionUS pharmacy programs are further developed by providing specialized, high-quality digital health education with extensive coursework, reflecting a curriculum aligned with digital advancements. This stands in stark contrast to Brazilian programs, which show a need for comprehensive curriculum revision to effectively prepare pharmacists for the digital age. This study underscores the urgency for global pharmacy education reform and its alignment with the rapid evolution of digital health.

Integrating health disparities content into health informatics courses: a cross-sectional survey study and recommendations.

To assess the extent to which health disparities content is integrated in multidisciplinary health informatics training programs and examine instructor perspectives surrounding teaching strategies and challenges, including student engagement with course material. Data for this cross-sectional, descriptive study were collected between April and October 2019. Instructors of informatics courses taught in the United States were recruited via listservs and email. Eligibility was contingent on course inclusion of disparities content. Participants completed an online survey with open- and closed-ended questions to capture administrative- and teaching-related aspects of disparities education within informatics. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics; qualitative data were analyzed using inductive coding. Invitations were sent to 141 individuals and 11 listservs. We obtained data from 23 instructors about 24 informatics courses containing health disparities content. Courses were taught primarily in graduate-level programs (n = 21, 87.5%) in informatics (n = 9, 33.3%), nursing (n = 7, 25.9%), and information science (n = 6, 22.2%). The average course covered 6.5 (range 2-13) social determinants of health; socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity (both n = 21, 87.5%) were most frequently addressed. Instructors described multiple obstacles, including lack of resources and time to cover disparities topics adequately, topic sensitivity, and student-related challenges (eg, lack of prior understanding about disparities). A foundational and translational knowledge in health disparities is critical to a student's ability to develop future equitable informatics solutions. Based on our findings, we provide recommendations for the intentional and required integration of health disparities-specific content in informatics curricula and competencies.

Review of applied health informatics courses in a multidisciplinary biomedical informatics department.

IntroductionApplied health informatics infrastructure is a requirement for learning health systems and it is imperative that we train a workforce that can support this infrastructure. Our department offers courses in several interdisciplinary programs with topics ranging from bioinformatics to population health informatics. Due to changes in the field and our faculty members, we sought to assess our courses relevant to applied health informatics.MethodsIn this paper, we discuss the three‐phase evaluation of our program and include the survey we developed to identify the skills and knowledge base of our faculty.ResultsWe show how this assessment allowed us to identify gaps and develop strategies for program expansion.ConclusionsA focus on workforce development can help to guide and focus curricular review in an interdisciplinary graduate program.

A Data-Driven Assessment of the U.S. Health Informatics Programs and Job Market.

Health Informatics (HI) is an interdisciplinary field, integrating health sciences, computer science, information science, and cognitive science to assist health information management, analysis, and utilization. As the HI field is broad, it is impossible that a student will be able to master all the diverse HI topics. Thus, it is important to train the HI students based on the offering of the various HI programs and needs of the current market. This project will study the U.S. HI programs, training materials, HI job market, the skillset required by the employers, competencies taught in HI programs, and comparisons between them. We collected the training information for the 238 U.S. universities that offered MS, PhD, or postbaccalaureate certificate programs in HI or related professions. Next, we explored the HI job market by randomly checking 200 jobs and their required skillsets and domain knowledge. Then, we compared these skillsets with those offered by the HI programs and identified the gaps and overlaps for program enhancements. Among the 238 U.S. universities, 94 universities offer HI programs: 92 universities with MS (Master of Science), 43 with doctoral, 42 with both MS and doctoral, and 54 with certificate programs. The most offered HI courses are related to practicum, data analytics, research, and ethics. For the HI job postings, the three most technical skillsets required in HI job posting are data analysis, database management, and knowledge of electronic health records. However, only 58% of HI programs offer courses in database management and analytics. Compared with American Medical Informatics Association's recommended 10 fundamental domains, the HI curriculum generally lacks training in socio-technical systems, social-behavioral aspects of health, and interprofessional collaborative practice. There are gaps between the industry expectations of HI and the training received in HI programs. Advance level technical courses are needed in HI programs to meet industry expectations.

Evaluating reflective writing to guide curricular improvements in health informatics education

ABSTRACT The use of reflective essays to guide curricular improvements is explored in this qualitative study of two cohorts of students enrolled in a graduate health informatics course. The research questions, methods, and analysis were co-designed with the course instructor and a student who had completed the course and was a teaching assistant in the subsequent year. We thematically analyzed 95 anonymized student reflective essays with a taxonomy of learning and codes developed using the assignment rubric and similar themes derived from published literature. Major themes that emerged were (1) foundational knowledge acquisition and understanding, (2) integration and critical reflection, (3) self-discovery and imagining possibilities beyond the course, and (4) sharing and the human dimension. The results reinforce strengths of the course and informs areas for curricular improvement that incorporate reflection as part of a summative assessment. The discussion highlights challenges students had in writing reflective essays, which will be used to refine the activity and the instructions for the assignment. Our findings will assist students in developing their reflective practice to carry forward in their experiential internship in the program and their careers.

Students' perceptions of health informatics learning: a survey of Jordanian and Palestinian students in health-related disciplines

BackgroundTraining for health students is essential to equip them with health informatics competencies and skills. This study used a tailored version of the technology acceptance model (TAM) to assess Jordanian and Palestinian students' attitudes and thoughts regarding learning of health informatics, to determine their intention to learn, to assess the required skills for health informatics, and to determine reasons that could motivate students to study health informatics. MethodsA descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among senior undergraduate students in health-related disciplines in four universities in Jordan and Palestine. A stratified random sample of 1000 students was emailed the link to the web-based questionnaire and requested to complete the questionnaire on a voluntary basis. According to the recommendation by Comrey and Lee (1992), the sample size should be more than 500 to be able to perform factor analysis. The questionnaire included questions on the TAM construct. A five-point Likert-type scale was used to record responses to the questions. FindingsA total of 891 students responded to the study questionnaire; a response rate of 89%. The majority (83%; 737 of 891) of students were interested in learning health informatics. Approximately 63% (560 out of 891) of students reported that they would take a set of health informatics courses during their undergraduate degree if given such an opportunity. Approximately 70% (624 of 891) of students perceived health informatics learning as useful. Only a third of students (36%; 322 of 891) believed that their university provides a supportive environment for health informatics programmes. Approximately 75% (668 of 891) of students had the intention to enter the health informatics programme, and reported that they were enthusiastic about the use of health information technology in patient care in future medical practice. InterpretationUnderstanding students' perception and acceptance of health informatics learning is very important to predict the adoption and implementation of these applications during practice. Students perceived health informatics learning as useful and easy, had a positive attitude towards health informatics, and a strong intention to learn health informatics. The results of this study provide directions for the implementation of health informatics education. FundingThis study, part of the HiCure project, has been funded with support from the European Commission and the European Union's Erasmus+ programme.

Learning about European integrations in health within Health Informatics course

Learning about European integrations in health within Health Informatics course

Developing an evidence-based public health informatics course.

This study assessed the need to develop a public health informatics (PHI) introductory course and determine contents of such a course. Community assessments employing focus group interviews and an online survey were utilized to determine course need and content. Results revealed a need to provide PHI training to graduate public health students and suggested broad course content requirements. Results indicated lack of awareness of libraries and librarians as sources of public health information. A graduate PHI course was developed and delivered. Additionally, implementation of a subject guide increased the library's profile.

An Online Health Informatics Elective Course for Doctor of Pharmacy Students

To describe the development and assessment of an online elective health informatics course and determine its potential for universal integration into doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) curricula. A 2-credit hour online elective course was developed and offered to all PharmD students; voiced-over Powerpoint lectures were used to deliver content. Assessment of student performance was measured using quantitative metrics via discussion questions, quizzes, written papers, and examinations. Qualitative findings were measured through discussion questions, a goal-setting classroom assessment technique, and an end-of-course reflection. Students report finding value in the course and recognizing how the knowledge gained could impact their future practice as pharmacists. An online course in health informatics can be an effective way to deliver content and provide a blueprint for continued integration of the content into curricula.

Perceived sense of community, cognitive engagement, and learning outcomes among undergraduate nursing students enrolled in an internet-based learning course.

Internet-based learning environments are a popular instructional delivery method that provides flexibility, easy access, convenience, and self-directed learning. There is concern that Internet-based learning creates a loss of community and lacks the power to fully engage the student, leading to negative learning outcomes. This descriptive, correlational study evaluated the relationship among a perceived sense of community, cognitive engagement, and learner outcomes among undergraduate nursing students enrolled in an Internet-based learning course. A convenience sample of 96 undergraduate nursing students enrolled in an online health informatics course participated in this study. Findings indicated a moderate sense of community and a positive relationship between student engagement and learning outcomes. A variety of group activities such as wikis, blogs, and discussion board were helpful in promoting a sense of community, but students emphasized a desire for more faculty feedback and interaction. Nursing is a collaborative profession where community building is a critical skill; therefore, innovative teaching/learning techniques that promote a sense of belonging and community are needed to improve learning outcomes, prepare students to provide quality patient care, and interact with an interprofessional team.

Recent movement on education and training in health informatics.

At last, Issue 2 of Volume 20 is now officially published, ready to be read. This issue consists of ten unique contributions on a variety of healthcare informatics issues: One review article, six original research papers, two case reports, and one book review. In particular, the review article by Paton discusses Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and its role in teaching health informatics through free online courses at a social networking site (SNS) for students and professionals around the world. Health informatics has evolved over the past few decades, but international and more formal efforts in regards to education in this field have been established only recently by the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA). Health informatics is a relatively new profession, especially compared to other healthcare professions, such as medicine and nursing. Health informatics professionals work in a number of roles that require a wide range of expertise in the field. Professionals in health informatics require knowledge and application skills in health, healthcare systems, information technology (IT), and management. In particular, IT is changing rapidly and is bringing in radical changes and opportunities to professions in health informatics. In addition, considering the context of education and training, potential students for health informatics are professionals with some background in either health or IT. The education program needs to be designed for both professionals in a way that broadens their skills to meet the interdisciplinary knowledge requirements of health informatics while building the skills of their area of expertise. If students are health professionals, they may need courses to strengthen their IT skills, and if students are IT professionals, they may need courses that give them a better understanding of clinical settings and healthcare systems. The domain of health informatics is usually interdisciplinary with a focus on the integration of areas, such as health, healthcare system, management, computing, and technology. Such wider expectations have difficult implications for the question of what needs to be taught to future health informatics professionals. In this context, it is good to hear that the IMIA Education Task Force has outlined the key competencies necessary for stand-alone health informatics courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels as well as embedded courses as a track to complement other aspects of healthcare training. In terms of instructional methods and media, technology-aided instruction has been emerging, and ITs have been driving significant change throughout academia. As the rapid evolution of IT alters the constraints of space and time and reshapes the way students communicate, learn, and think, it is fundamentally changing the relationship between students and knowledge. Despite the fact that distance online learning in higher education is on the rise, online learning has been criticized by feelings of learner isolation and alienation, lack of participant interaction, and high dropout rates. However, along the rise of Web 2.0, SNSs have been viewed as tools that enable the use of participatory pedagogies able to address the problems of distance education. SNSs have gained widespread interest for their potential to facilitate interaction, communication, learner participation, and collaboration and have recently been featured in discussions on the use of technology to support and amplify educational endeavors. The Health Informatics Forum is one example of MOOCs through an SNS that aims to educate health informatics students and professionals. The content is delivered through narrated lectures with slides that can be viewed online with discussion threads that allow for class interactions. Students can maintain a professional profile, upload photos and files, write their own blog posts, and post discussion threads on the forum. Education and training are important to everyone, but they are even more important in the healthcare industry, especially health informatics professionals. These fields require knowledge and understanding of both health sciences and technology and are always evolving with new developments and discoveries. Therefore, it is essential for health informatics professionals to keep up with the latest changes. Advances in health informatics and educational technology have created a demand for online learning material in health informatics as well as a solution by providing such material. As the author emphasized, it is our hope as well that high quality health informatics education will be able to be delivered to a large global audience of future health informatics professionals without cost through the use of MOOC delivered on a social networking platform.

A New Health Informatics Course: A Funded Collaboration

Information access is considered critical to the public health workforce, which involves informatics, communication, analytic assessment, and health education (NN/LM Public Health Training Workgroup, 2004). Information-oriented outreach to the public health workforce is challenging to libraries because the public health workforce is made up of diverse health professions and public health personnel are not aware if key information resources are available to them (Cogdill, 2007). The National Library of Medicine (NLM) funded information outreach to the public health workforce projects in different periods of time, which altogether reflect challenges of providing public health professionals with access to electronic health information resources and the importance of establishing partnerships with public health agencies and institutions.

A Blended Learning Course Taught to Different Groups of Learners in a Dental School: Follow‐Up Evaluation

This article reports the results of a follow-up study conducted to investigate students' perceptions about a blended learning health informatics course that combined online and traditional classroom instruction. The course is taught to five different groups of students at the School of Clinical Dentistry of the University of Sheffield each academic year: first-, third-, and fourth-year dental students, dental hygiene and therapy students, and postgraduate dental students. The goal of the study was to determine the impact of the modifications made to the course after the first year of implementation. To accomplish this goal, students' perceptions of this blended learning course were compared after the first and second implementations. The methodology used for this study was action research. The data were collected using three processes: questionnaires were used to collect contextual data from the students taking the course; a student-led, nominal group technique was used to collect group data from the participants; and a non-participant observer technique was used to record the context in which certain group and individual behaviors occurred. Depending on group assignment, between 41.5 and 91.5 percent of students believed that the blended-learning course had added to their skills. The online learning environment was perceived as a useful resource by 75 percent of students in four of the five student groups, but only 45 percent of the fourth-year dental students indicated it was a useful resource. The perceived lack of sufficient online support material was one of the main concerns of the students at the nominal group evaluation sessions. The non-participant observer technique identified different engagement levels among the student groups. Discernible differences were identified, with improvement in some areas and a decline in others compared to a previous evaluation. The change in the delivery method influenced the students' comprehension of the material negatively and the learning environment positively, but did not influence online collaboration among students.

An international summer school on health informatics: A collaborative effort of the Amsterdam Medical Informatics Program and IΦE—the International Partnership for Health Informatics Education

Purpose Today, the need for health informatics training for health care professionals is acknowledged and educational opportunities for these professionals are increasing. To contribute to these efforts, a new initiative was undertaken by the Medical Informatics Program of the University of Amsterdam-Academic Medical Center and IPHIE (IΦE)—the International Partnership for Health Informatics Education. In the year 2004, a summer school on health informatics was organized for advanced medical students from all over the world. Methods We elaborate on the goals and the program for this summer school. In developing the course, we followed the international guidelines of the International Medical Informatics Association—IMIA. Students provided feedback for the course through both summative and formative evaluations. As a result of these evaluations, we outline the lessons we have learned and what consequences these results have had in revising the course. Results Overall the results of both the summative and formative evaluation of the summer school showed that we succeeded in the goals we set at the beginning of the course. Students highly appreciated the course content and indicated that the course fulfilled their educational needs. The decision support and image processing computer practicums however proved too high level. We therefore will redesign these practicums to competence requirements of medical doctors as defined by IMIA. All participants recommended the summer school event to other students. Conclusions Our experiences demonstrated a true need for health informatics education among medical students and that even a 2 weeks course can fulfill health informatics educational needs of these future physicians. Further establishment of health informatics courses for other health professions is recommended.

Using the Internet to teach health informatics: a case study.

BackgroundIt is becoming increasingly important for health professionals to have an understanding of health informatics. Education in this area must support not only undergraduate students but also the many workers who graduated before informatics education was available in the undergraduate program. To be successful, such a program must allow currently-employed students with significant work and family commitments to enroll.ObjectivesThe aim was to successfully create and teach a distance program in health informatics for the New Zealand environment.MethodsOur students are primarily health professionals in full time employment. About 50% are doctors, about 25% nurses, and the rest include dentists, physiotherapists, and medical managers. Course material was delivered via the World Wide Web and CD-ROM. Communication between students and faculty, both synchronous and asynchronous, was carried out via the Internet.ResultsWe have designed and taught a postgraduate Diploma of Health Informatics program using the Internet as a major communication medium. The course has been running since July 1998 and the first 10 students graduated in July 2000. About 45 students are currently enrolled in the course; we have had a dropout rate of 15% and a failure rate of 5%. Comparable dropout figures are hard to obtain, but a recent review has suggested that failure-to-complete rates of 30% to 33% may be expected.ConclusionsInternet technology has provided an exciting educational challenge and opportunity. Providing a web-based health informatics course has not been without its frustrations and problems, including software compatibility issues, bandwidth limitations, and the rapid change in software and hardware. Despite these challenges, the use of Internet technology has been interesting for both staff and students, and a worthwhile alternative for delivering educational material and advice to students working from their own homes.

Regarding: Designing and Delivering a Public Health Informatics Course (Fall 2000)

Regarding: Designing and Delivering a Public Health Informatics Course (Fall 2000)

Designing and Delivering a Public Health Informatics Course

Public health is a discipline increasingly reliant on the dissemination, manipulation and synthesis of information from a variety of sources. Public health practitioners now do much of their surveillance, advocacy, reporting, data analysis, and data collection via the web or on a computer. However, students in Master of Public Health programs rarely receive adequate training on the use of information technology. This article reports on the issues involved in designing and delivering an informatics course for public health students, using Public Health Informatics, a class offered since the fall of 1998 at the Texas A&M University System Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, as an example. Informatics, public health informatics, issues in course design and delivery, and future plans for the course are defined and discussed.