Biomedical Informatics Program : UNM HSC

HSLIC Biomedical Informatics Program

Biomedical Informatics Program Fellowship Curriculum

The informatics core curriculum consists of didactic sessions, off-site seminars, and tutorials offered at national meetings. Topic include:

Clinical Database Research

This topic covers the benefits and difficulties in using existing clinical databases (e.g., Medicare, hospital information systems, death indices, etc.) for clinical research.

Medical Coding Systems

This topic covers the basic theory behind coding systems and their implementation and use (SNOMED, LOINC, RxNORM, ICD-9, CPT, etc.)

Medical Research Ethics

This topic is covered by the fellows' participation in the University of New Mexico's Health Sciences Center Institute of Ethics' Certificate Program.

Electronic Medical Records

This topic surveys the benefits and limitations of using electronic patient records.

Digital Imaging and Signal Acquisition

This topic provides an overview of the electronic acquisition, processing and storage of images and other medical signals (such as EKGs, EEGs, etc.) Accepted standards and formats are described as well (JPEG, MPEG, etc.)

Medical Use of Wireless Technology

This surveys the current state of wireless technology (e.g., 802.11a/b/c, Bluetooth, etc.) and profiles the benefits, potential uses, and shortcomings of each.

[photo]-HSLIC Classroom (photo credit - Barry Staver)

Electronic Medical Systems Implementation

This topic covers issues and strategies associated with implementing electronic medical systems into existing care environments. Basic strategies and tracking methodologies are included.

Grant Writing

This topic is covered by the fellows' participation in the NIH Regional Seminars on Program Funding and Grants Administration

Security and Confidentiality

This topic describes the various methods and algorithms for insuring the security and confidentiality of electronic patient records. Encryption strategies as well as regulatory processes (i.e., HIPAA) is included.

User Interfaces & Human Factors

This topic covers the fundamentals to be considered when designing a computer interface for medical applications.

Electronic Decision Support and Computerized Physician Order Entry

This topic provides an introduction to the field of electronic decision support in the clinical environment as well an overview of the state of the art in electronic physician order entry.

Informatics and Medical Guidelines

This topic covers the benefits and limitations of using computers to help physicians adhere to accepted standards of care in the clinical environment.

Clinical Data Acquisition

This topic surveys the various methods for acquiring clinical data from and about patients (e.g., direct data entry, electronic capture, turn-a-round documents, scanners, OCR, natural language processing, etc.) The advantages and shortcomings of each method are discussed.

Telemedicine

This topic will be taught by researchers at the UNM who are actively involved with the implementation and research of telemedicine. UNM is an acknowledged leader in telemedicine research because of New Mexico's unique population distribution.

Simulation

This topic will be taught by researchers at the UNM "B.A.T.C.A.V.E" simulation lab. The goal is to expose students to the state-of-the-art in patient and surgical simulation, as well as to the research possibilities in this area of informatics. UNM has a state-of-the-art patient simulation center and is a leader in research in patient and surgical simulation.

Information/Literature Seeking, Medical Knowledge Databases, and Reference Management Tools

This topic will be taught by Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center faculty, who are specialists in using various medical literature databases and search strategies. The goal is to increase the student's skill to an expert level for searching the medical literature. Use of reference management software will also be taught as part of this topic.

Professional Development

This section is designed to improve the fellows' professional and managerial skills to help them assume leadership roles when they complete the fellowship.

Bioinformatics

This section will be taught by UNM faculty actively engaged in bioinformatics and genetics research. It is designed to give students an overview and general appreciation for the potential clinical benefit and difficulties in performing this type of research.

The goal of the seminar series is to provide exposure to the basics of medical informatics. The curriculum is supplemented with participation in national meetings, special guest lectures on informatics-related topics, and one-on-one mentoring in each fellow's area of interest.