| Title | Essentials in Health Informatics for Life Sciences and Computer Science Students – summer and e-learning course |
|---|---|
| Faculty/College/Unit | Medicine |
| Status | Completed |
| Duration | 2 Year |
| Initiation | 04/01/2005 |
| Completion | 03/31/2007 |
| Funding Details | |
| Year 1: Project Title | Essentials in health informatics for life sciences and computer science students |
| Year 1: Project Year | Year 1 |
| Year 1: Funding Year | 2005/2006 |
| Year 1: Project Type | Small TLEF |
| Year 1: Principal Investigator | Kendall Ho |
| Year 1: Funded Amount | 43,372 |
| Year 1: Team Members | Kendall Ho, Continuing Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine |
| Year 1: Summary | We propose to build on an existing TLEF grant led by Computer Science, which embarks on constructing and implementing a 13 week, 3-credit undergraduate course on the introduction of computer sciences in health (health informatics) for life and health sciences students. In order to reach a significantly larger audience, this proposal focuses on modifying the format of delivery of the curriculum developed in the original grant into more accessible formats - an intensive and highly interactive one week summer seminar course and a modularized e-learning course. Preliminary data (i.e., key informant interviews of policy makers, health administrators, researchers, and health professionals) evidenced a clear need for training in this important interdisciplinary area. While the 13-week credit course being developed will be accessible to life and health sciences students in the Vancouver Campus, many students in other locations, such as the Okanagan Campus or in other communities due to provincial medical school expansion or the College of Health Discipline's Interprofessional Rural Placement Program, may be inhibited from fully participating in the 13-week course because of geographical or temporal limitations. A condensed and portable one week summer course, which could be offered in Vancouver, Kelowna or other locations, would afford students from across the province the opportunity to attend with minimal inconvenience. The health informatics course can also be modularized, through Sound pedagogical and creative electronic design, into an interactive e-learning format to engage even more participants at their own time and pace. A strong interest internationally for such a course in health informatics will allow us to reach out to an international audience (our global citizenship role) and simultaneously provide a course enriched with global perspective to our own students. Our B.C. Aboriginal communities are also keen to build capacity in health informatics as evidenced by several of the First Nations telehealth projects in which our CME Division is engaged. These two course formats would be ideal means of enabling communities and their citizens to gain access to learning in this area of great need and interest. In essence, this TLEF grant approach will fulfill the fundamental intent of TLEF: providing access to a necessary course to a wide number of students, offering it to communities, and allowing UBC to meet our global citizenship role, all of which are consistent with the Trek 2000 and 2010 philosophy. |
| Year 2: Project Year | Year 2 |
| Year 2: Funding Year | 2006/2007 |
| Year 2: Project Type | Small TLEF |
| Year 2: Principal Investigator | Kendall Ho |
| Year 2: Funded Amount | 45,400 |
| Year 2: Team Members | Kendall Ho, Continuing Professional Development and Knowledge Translation, Faculty of Medicine |
| Year 2: Summary | In 2005-2006, our interdisciplinary group of faculty members and students developed and implemented the pilot version of a summer introductory course on health informatics for Life Sciences and Computer Science students. Based on 1) key informant interviews with health policy makers, health professionals, and researchers regarding the essential health informatics (HI) skills needed in today's market place; 2) literature and textbooks review; and 3) our Faculty members' own HI experiences; we offered the course in August 2005 and obtained excellent feedback from our target audience of UBC students. We are currently well underway in elucidating the best approach to establish the e-learning platform (which software to use, how best to incorporate live and computer-based interactive elements to optimize learning and knowledge uptake), and will complete this task to fulfill all our milestones for year 1. We are ready to embark on year 2 as follows:
Based on the mounting provincial, national, and international interest in HI and e-health, we strongly believe that our course will reach out to an international audience and simultaneously provide enrichment in global perspectives to our own students. As our rural communities are keen to build capacity in HI, the two alternative course formats would be ideal in enabling community members to gain access to learning in this area of great need and interest. In essence, this TLEF proposed approach will provide access of a necessary course to a wide number of students and communities, and allowing UBC to meet our global citizenship role, all of which are consistent with the Trek 2000 and 2010 philosophy. |