Survey of clinical informatics fellows graduating 2016–2024: experiences before and during fellowship

Background: In 2011, the American Board of Medical Specialties established Clinical Informatics (CI) as a subspecialty in Medicine, jointly administered by the American Board of Pathology and the American Board of Preventive Medicine. Subsequently, many institutions created clinical informatics fellowship training programs to meet the growing need for informaticists. Although many programs share similar features, there is considerable variation in program funding and administrative structures. Objective: The aim of our study was to characterize clinical informatics fellowship program features, including governance structures, funding sources, and expenses. Methods: We created a cross-sectional online REDCap survey with 44 items requesting information on program administration, fellows, administrative support, funding sources, and expenses. We surveyed program directors of programs accredited by the ACGME between 2014-2021. Results: We invited 54 program directors, of which 41 (76%) completed the survey. The average administrative support received was $27,732/year. Most programs (85.4%) were accredited to have two or more fellows per year. Programs were administratively housed under six departments: Internal Medicine (17; 41.5%), Pediatrics (7; 17.1%), Pathology (6; 14.6%), Family Medicine (6; 14.6%), Emergency Medicine (4; 9.8%), and Anesthesiology (1; 2.4%). Funding sources for CI fellowship program directors included: hospital or health systems (28.3%), clinical departments (28.3%), graduate medical education (GME) office (13.2%), biomedical informatics department (9.4%), hospital information technology (9.4%), research and grants (7.5%), and other sources (3.8%) that included philanthropy and external entities. Conclusion: Clinical informatics fellowships have been established in leading academic and community healthcare systems across the country. Due to their unique training requirements, these programs require significant resources for education, administration, and recruitment. There continues to be considerable heterogeneity in funding models between programs. Our survey findings reinforce the need for reformed federal funding models for informatics practice and training.

Section: Accepted Manuscriptsupporting

confidence: 60%

Structure and Funding of Clinical Informatics Fellowships: A National Survey of Program Directors

Patel,

Chaise,

Hanna

et al. 2024

“…CI fellowship applicant data suggests significant gaps between genders and races [39][40][41] with similar gaps in CI fellowship graduates. 27 Surveying residents who have completed CI curricula may provide perspectives on creating a more diverse, learner-friendly environment.…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…24,25 Four major clinical specialties -internal medicine, pediatrics, family medicine, and emergency medicine -represent almost three quarters of subspecialists boarded in CI 26 and sixty percent of CI fellowship graduates. 27 These specialties are critical in training future boardcertified CI physicians and physicians with CI skills. All of these specialties cite "using information technology to optimize learning" as an ACGME competency and include quality improvement, population health, and social determinants of health as aspects of ACGME competencies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Call to Support Informatics Curricula in U.S.-Based Residency Education

You,

Samal,

Leung

et al. 2023

“…9,20,21 However, evidence suggests there are not enough pediatricians equipped to drive the informatics work required to deliver optimal patient care. 22,23 As of 2018, only 320 of 1,851 total clinical informaticians are board certified pediatricians. 22,23 This number may underestimate the total number of pediatricians practicing as clinical informaticians as some providers may not have opted to This article is protected by copyright.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…22,23 As of 2018, only 320 of 1,851 total clinical informaticians are board certified pediatricians. 22,23 This number may underestimate the total number of pediatricians practicing as clinical informaticians as some providers may not have opted to This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Need for Expanded Educational Opportunities in Clinical Informatics for Pediatric Trainees

Yan,

Yarahuan,

Hron

2024

Pediatric healthcare has nuances not encountered in the delivery of adult medicine. In order to support these unique pediatric workflows, pediatric healthcare providers need to be involved in the development of pediatric focused health information systems. Unfortunately, not enough pediatrics are training in clinical informatics with only 31 clinical informatics fellows listing pediatrics as their primary specialty between 2016-2024. This is leading to a void in practicing pediatric clinical informaticists which is supported by the fact that only 320 clinical informaticists in the United States are pediatricians. Increased focus on cultivating the next generation of pediatric clinical informaticists is required. Contributing factors to the low attrition of pediatricians into clinical informatics training include the lack of clinical informatics specific content on the American Board of Pediatrics exam, and the small number of pediatric specific clinical informatics fellowship programs. Collaborative approaches are needed to ensure that enough pediatricians are trained in clinical informatics by 1) increasing trainee awareness of and interest in clinical informatics, 2) increasing pediatric trainees’ knowledge of core clinical informatics concepts and 3) supporting the careers of future pediatric informaticists.