The current state of medical informatics curricula in undergraduate medical education: a national survey

INTRODUCTION:Medical informatics (MI) is a science focused on improving the digital delivery of healthcare services.With the advent of electronic health records (EHR) and its integration in medicine, students are expected to acquire a newer form of non-medical skills while learning fundamental medical knowledge and clinical decision-making.Unlike the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) fellowship-level training in clinical informatics, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has not set competency expectations for medical informatics in undergraduate medical education.The American Health Informatics Management Association (AHIMA) has suggested five areas that professional medical education should address: literacy and skills, computer literacy, electronic health records, privacy and confidentiality, information and data technical aspects, and security. PURPOSE:The primary goal of this study was to describe the current state of integration of MI in curricula across medical schools in the United States.The secondary goal was to identify how the five areas recommended by the AHIMA are being fostered. METHODS:This is an IRB-approved cross-sectional national survey conducted between January and April 2022.The survey consisted of open-and close-ended questions focused on the presence of current medical informatics platforms, interest, integration, and perceived utility in current medical school training.Associate deans of medical education and/or curricula and those involved in curricular development at all 192 US-based allopathic and osteopathic medical schools were contacted electronically. RESULTS:The response rate was 40% (77 out of 192).Up to 50% of respondents reported formal integration of medical informatics in their UME curricula, with 67% defining it as a course that is set up with defined objectives.The material offered was structured as electives available to the students (67%), integrated into existing required courses (23%), and as stand-alone required courses (10%); however, only 20% reported seamless integration into the curriculum.Regarding format, this was mainly in-person lectures (63%) compared to online modules (27%).Although 61% of all participants reported initiating a form of learner exposure in the preclinical years, 48% of participants acknowledged knowing of student-reported concerns regarding readiness for managing EHR by the expected graduation date.Current setups include 24% of participants suggesting gradual unstructured training limited to preclinical years, whileThe current state of medical informatics cur