Track III - Clinical Scholar

Masters Program in Medical Informatics

Sponsors:

Pratt School of Engineering
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Duke Department of Clinical Informatics
Duke Health Technology Solutions
UNC School of Information and Library Science

Supervisors:

Jeffrey M Ferranti, M.D., M.S.
Director of Pediatric Informatics, Duke University Health System
Director of Computerized Patient Safety Initiatives, Duke University Health System
Clinical Faculty Member, Divisiono of Neonatology

Edward Hammond, Ph.D.
Asif Ahmad, M.S., MBA.

 

Background:

              

In recent years the advancement of newborn medicine has become increasingly dependent upon computer science. The marriage of these two fields is manifest in the practice of medical informatics - a discipline that bridges the gap between technology and patient care. Focusing on the storage, retrieval, sharing and analysis of biomedical data, informatics seeks to optimize patient care and guide future research. It touches on all areas of basic and clinical science, and is intricately linked to emerging computing and communications technologies.

Our burgeoning understanding of neonatology coupled with the means to measure seemingly infinite lab values, has out-paced our ability to manage NICU data with a traditional medical record. New and innovative ways to organize and analyze patient information need to be developed in order to improve long-term outcomes and promote evidence-based medicine. A sound understanding medical informatics is rapidly becoming essential in the high-tech environment of the neonatal ICU. Toward this end, we propose that the scholarly study of medical informatics is a legitimate and important pursuit for today's fellows in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine.

 

Concept:

Develop an integrated program between the Department of Neonatology and the Division of Biomedical Engineering to provide both theoretical and practical instruction, as well as research experience in the field of medical informatics as it applies to neonatal medicine. Upon successful completion of the training program, the Fellow is expected to have completed sufficient course work to be eligible for a Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering with a focus in medical informatics, and to have the tools and skills necessary to apply medical computing technologies in a critical care environment.

 

Core Course Work:

BME 243 - Introduction to Medical Informatics
BME 399 - Computer-based Medical Records
BME 265 - Knowledge Representation. Design and structure of clinical data
BME 399 - Research and Evaluation Methods.
BME 265 - Clinical Reasoning and Decision Making.
BME 399 - Software Engineering.

Elective Course Work: (courses offered in the departments of Biomedical Engineering, Business Administration, Computer Science, Family Medicine, Public Policy, and Statistics)

BME 241 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN MEDICINE
BME 264 MEDICAL INSTRUMENT DESIGN
BME 244 MATHEMATICAL MODELS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
BA 510 BAYESIAN INFERENCE AND DECISION
BA 525 BEHAVIORAL DECISION THEORY
BA 564 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND ANALYSIS SEMINAR
CPS 212 INTRODUCTION TO SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING
CPS 241 DATA BASE METHODOLOGY
CPS 252 COMPUTER SYSTEMS ORGANIZATION
CPS 276 COMPUTATION, AND MEMORY IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
CFM 213 RESEARCH DATA MANAGEMENT
CFM 217 CLINICAL DECISION ANALYSIS
CFM 236 COMPUTERS AND THEIR APPLICATION IN MEDICINE
SDS 213 INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL METHODS
PPS 222 STATISTICS AND DATA ANALYSIS FOR PUBLIC POLICYMAKERS

Practical Experience:

Fellows will develop a research project in medical informatics. Possible projects include but are not limited to: Computerized Patient Safety Initiatives, Electronic medical records, wireless technologies, telemedicine, data analysis techniques, heuristics, medical decision making, artificial intelligence and genomics, computerized physician order entry.

Objectives:

· Masters level understanding of medical informatics

· Competency in implementing computing technologies in a healthcare environment.

· Demonstrated understanding of the uses of medical computing systems as they relate to fostering research and promoting evidence based medicine.

 

 

To refer a patient, 24 hours a day:
Ask for the neonatologist on call at:
1-800-MED-DUKE (1-800-633-3853)
or dial the pager directly at: (919) 970-1714.

Phone (919) 668-1592
Fax (919) 681-6065