JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Examining the competency frameworks with which undergraduate medical education in clinical informatics has been developed in Canada and the United States, a gap is observed: the lack of a unified competency set for clinical informatics education across North America. Upon mapping the Canadian roles to American competencies via both undergraduate and graduate medical education competency frameworks, the difference in focus between the two countries can be thematically described as a difference between the concepts of clinical and management reasoning. Furthermore, we suggest that the development or deployment of informatics competencies in undergraduate medical education should focus on three items: 1. The teaching of diagnostic reasoning, such that the information tasks which comprise both clinical and management reasoning can be discussed. 2. Precision medical education, where informatics can provide for more fine-grained evaluation and assessment methods to support traditional pedagogical efforts (both at the bedside and beyond). 3. Assessment using cases or structured assessments (such as OSCEs) would help students draw parallels between clinical informatics and fundamental clinical subjects, and would better emphasize the cognitive techniques taught through informatics.