Fostering Digital Health in Universities: An Experience of the First Junior Scientific Committee of the Brazilian Congress of Health Informatics

Overview

Journal Healthc Inform Res

Date 2024 Feb 15

PMID 38359852

Authors

Alexandre Negrao Pantaleao

Anna Luisa Mennitti

Felipe Baptista Brunheroto

Vitoria Stavis

Laura Teresa Ricoboni

Victor Augusto Fonseca de Castro

Ollivia Frederigue Ferreira

Eura Martins Lage

Deborah Ribeiro Carvalho

Anita Maria da Rocha Fernandes

Juliano de Souza Gaspar

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: Digital health (DH) is a revolution driven by digital technologies to improve health. Despite the importance of DH, curricular updates in healthcare university programs are scarce, and DH remains undervalued. Therefore, this report describes the first Junior Scientific Committee (JSC) focusing on DH at a nationwide congress, with the aim of affirming its importance for promoting DH in universities.

Methods: The scientific committee of the Brazilian Congress of Health Informatics (CBIS) extended invitations to students engaged in health-related fields, who were tasked with organizing a warm-up event and a 4-hour session at CBIS. Additionally, they were encouraged to take an active role in a workshop alongside distinguished experts to map out the current state of DH in Brazil.

Results: The warm-up event focused on the topic "Artificial intelligence in healthcare: is a new concept of health about to arise?" and featured remote discussions by three professionals from diverse disciplines. At CBIS, the JSC's inaugural presentation concentrated on delineating the present state of DH education in Brazil, while the second presentation offered strategies to advance DH, incorporating viewpoints from within and beyond the academic sphere. During the workshop, participants deliberated on the most crucial competencies for future professionals in the DH domain.

Conclusions: Forming a JSC proved to be a valuable tool to foster DH, particularly due to the valuable interactions it facilitated between esteemed professionals and students. It also supports the cultivation of leadership skills in DH, a field that has not yet received the recognition it deserves.

References

Poncette A, Glauert D, Mosch L, Braune K, Balzer F, Back D . Undergraduate Medical Competencies in Digital Health and Curricular Module Development: Mixed Methods Study. J Med Internet Res. 2020; 22(10):e22161. PMC: 7661229. DOI: 10.2196/22161. View

Ahonen O, Kotila J, Melender H, Saranto K . The Biomedical and Health Informatics Recommendation Domains in Relation to the Nurse Competence Scale Categories. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2023; 305:216-219. DOI: 10.3233/SHTI230466. View

Hare A, Soegaard Ballester J, Gabriel P, Adusumalli S, Hanson C . Training digital natives to transform healthcare: a 5-tiered approach for integrating clinical informatics into undergraduate medical education. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2022; 30(1):139-143. PMC: 9748535. DOI: 10.1093/jamia/ocac209. View

Jimenez G, Spinazze P, Matchar D, Koh Choon Huat G, van der Kleij R, Chavannes N . Digital health competencies for primary healthcare professionals: A scoping review. Int J Med Inform. 2020; 143:104260. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2020.104260. View

McCoy L, Nagaraj S, Morgado F, Harish V, Das S, Celi L . What do medical students actually need to know about artificial intelligence?. NPJ Digit Med. 2020; 3:86. PMC: 7305136. DOI: 10.1038/s41746-020-0294-7. View

Echelard J, Methot F, Nguyen H, Pomey M . Medical Student Training in eHealth: Scoping Review. JMIR Med Educ. 2020; 6(2):e20027. PMC: 7519432. DOI: 10.2196/20027. View

Khairat S, Feldman S, Rana A, Faysel M, Purkayastha S, Scotch M . Foundational domains and competencies for baccalaureate health informatics education. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2023; 30(10):1599-1607. PMC: 10531204. DOI: 10.1093/jamia/ocad147. View

Rohrig R, Stausberg J, Dugas M . Development of national competency-based learning objectives "Medical Informatics" for undergraduate medical education. Methods Inf Med. 2013; 52(3):184-8. DOI: 10.3414/ME13-04-0001. View

Quach W, Le C, Clark M, McArthur E, Ancker J, Gadd C . Engaging the next generation of physician-informaticians through early exposure to the field: successes and challenges associated with starting a novel clinical informatics interest group. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2022; 30(1):202-205. PMC: 9748539. DOI: 10.1093/jamia/ocac189. View

10.

Bichel-Findlay J, Koch S, Mantas J, Abdul S, Al-Shorbaji N, Ammenwerth E . Recommendations of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) on Education in Biomedical and Health Informatics: Second Revision. Int J Med Inform. 2022; 170:104908. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2022.104908. View

11.

Bellazzi R, Cecconi M, Costantino M, Veltri P . Bioengineering and medical informatics education in MD programs: perspectives from three Italian experiences. Int J Med Inform. 2023; 172:105002. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2023.105002. View

12.

Machleid F, Kaczmarczyk R, Johann D, Balciunas J, Atienza-Carbonell B, von Maltzahn F . Perceptions of Digital Health Education Among European Medical Students: Mixed Methods Survey. J Med Internet Res. 2020; 22(8):e19827. PMC: 7455864. DOI: 10.2196/19827. View

13.

Alzghaibi H . The gap between bachelor's degree graduates in health informatics and employer needs in Saudi Arabia. BMC Med Educ. 2023; 23(1):475. PMC: 10294393. DOI: 10.1186/s12909-023-04442-7. View

14.

Thapa S, Nielsen J, Aldahmash A, Qadri F, Leppin A . Willingness to Use Digital Health Tools in Patient Care Among Health Care Professionals and Students at a University Hospital in Saudi Arabia: Quantitative Cross-sectional Survey. JMIR Med Educ. 2021; 7(1):e18590. PMC: 8081256. DOI: 10.2196/18590. View