Essentials in Health Informatics for Life Sciences and Computer Science Students – summer and e-learning course

TitleEssentials in Health Informatics for Life Sciences and Computer Science Students – summer and e-learning course
Faculty/College/UnitMedicine
StatusCompleted
Duration2 Year
Initiation04/01/2005
Completion03/31/2007
Funding Details
Year 1: Project TitleEssentials in health informatics for life sciences and computer science students
Year 1: Project YearYear 1
Year 1: Funding Year2005/2006
Year 1: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 1: Principal InvestigatorKendall Ho
Year 1: Funded Amount43,372
Year 1: Team Members

Kendall Ho, Continuing Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine
Bernie Garrett, Assistant Professor, Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science
Michael Goldberg, Professor, Commerce, Sauder School of Business
Warren Luksun, Student, Medicine
Helen Novak-Lauscher, Ph.D. Student, Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education
Michele Ng, Staff, Computer Science, Faculty of Science
Raymond Ng, Professor, Computer Science, Faculty of Science
Sohrab Shah, Ph.D. Student, Computer Science, Faculty of Science
George Tsiknis, Senior Instructor, Computer Science, Faculty of Science

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 YearYear 2
Year 2: Funding Year2006/2007
Year 2: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 2: Principal InvestigatorKendall Ho
Year 2: Funded Amount45,400
Year 2: Team Members

Kendall Ho, Continuing Professional Development and Knowledge Translation, Faculty of Medicine
Bernie Garrett, Assistant Professor, Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science
Warren Luksun, Student, Medicine
Helen Novak-Lauscher, Ph.D. Student, Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education
Michele Ng, Staff, Computer Science, Faculty of Science
Raymong Ng, Professor, Computer Science, Faculty of Science
Sohrab Shah, Ph.D. Student, Computer Science, Faculty of Science
George Tsiknis, Senior Instructor, Computer Science, Faculty of Science
Nelson Shen, Student, Education

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:

  1. Strengthen the core content of the course on clarifying the computer science-health interface, the heart of originality of this course. This calls for engagement of a team of faculty members from computer science, medicine, nursing, and practitioners of HI for this development, as individual members from each faculty are essential but not sufficient to tackle this in isolation.
  2. Develop the lab component of the course to vivify the concepts and principles of practice discussed in the course, preferable involving practitioners of health informatics as computer lab facilitators and/or tutors.
  3. Identify the best pedagogical design for the e-learning course, mixing live or online interactive components with automated components, and adapt a curriculum to the e-learning environment.
  4. Offer the course in Vancouver and Kelowna in the summer of 2006, evaluate, and iteratively improve the content.
  5. Finalize the e-learning course by December 2006, and offer it in early 2007 for evaluation and content modification.
  6. Submit this course to the UBC Senate for study credits for students by fall 2006.
  7. Engage rural and aboriginal communities in the e-learning course to help communities build capacity in HI by 3/2007.

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.