Factors in the development of clinical informatics competence in early career health sciences professionals in Australia: a qualitative study

Abstract

This paper reports on a qualitative study investigating how Australian health professionals may be developing and deploying essential clinical informatics capabilities in the first 5 years of their professional practice. It explores the experiences of four professionals in applying what they have learned formally and informally during their university education and during workplace learning and training. This study is based on a broad review of the literature on clinical informatics education and training; its findings support international analyses and suggest that new strategic efforts among stakeholders in the healthcare system are required to make progress in building workforce capacity in this field, in Australia and elsewhere.

Teachers’ and students’ perceptions on barriers and facilitators for eHealth education in the curriculum of functional exercise and physical therapy: a focus groups study

“…On the level of organization , barriers and facilitators identified in our study add to the growing consensus that the uptake of eHealth needs a multi-facetted approach and not just ‘writing a new module’. In literature, static curricula with narrow focus on technology were reported as important barriers [7], and a clear need for a shared vision/rationale about what students should learn about eHealth and need didactic materials which is also reflected in literature [10]. Political and economic factors, i.e.…”

“…In addition, to further enhance uptake it is strongly advised to take a structured approach by addressing the levels of uptake [18]. Using ‘a clear rationale for teaching clinical informatics and a detailed list of desired competencies are an important start’ [10], and keeping in mind that ‘there is surprisingly little evidence about what works and doesn’t work with regard to the eHealth education’ [14]. Finally, more tools should be provided by the organizations itself, such as didactic materials and eHealth facilities.…”

“…Despite the growing importance of eHealth in the work field, curricula are currently underdeveloped in teaching eHealth in the field of e.g. dietetics, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychology, or social work [5–7, 9, 10]. Therefore, a systematic approach to design, teach, assess or accredit eHealth education in the curriculum is needed.…”

“…Therefore, a systematic approach to design, teach, assess or accredit eHealth education in the curriculum is needed. In the literature, a number of barriers for the uptake of eHealth education in curricula were identified: outdated and rigid curricula with narrow focus on technology [7], teachers’ limited experience with and knowledge of the emerging field of eHealth [2, 10, 11] and health care teachers not feeling confident with technology [2, 12, 13].…”

Developing early career professional auditors at work

“…An examination of the requirements for becoming a member of a profession, with specific reference to the traditional professions in medicine, the law and engineering, revealed that workplace learning in all these professions shares the following characteristics (Argyris & Schön, 1974;Dall'Alba & Sandberg, 1996:411;Epstein & Hundert, 2002:226;Gray & Sim, 2011;Maudsley & Strivens, 2000:535;Perruci, 1971;Pinnington, 2011;Rotem et al, 1995:211;Williams, 2010:624): Based on the literature, it therefore appears that professional development includes a component of workplace learning prior to obtaining a professional designation. The notion of workplace learning is subsequently discussed.…”