Medical Informatics Association’s recommendations on MI education, the word
combination ‘biomedical and health informatics’ is used throughout the text [22].
We are convinced that such a broad interpretation of this word combination may
indicate that International Medical Informatics Association makes efforts to unify the
field’s terminology at the international level in order to avoid further ambiguities in the
terminology usage. Moreover, a simultaneous usage of the terms ‘biomedical and
health informatics’ proves their equivalency. The difference mainly consists in the term
preferences restricted to a specific geographic area.
In the course of our research, it also becomes evident that MI-related terminology
diversity, ambiguity and inconsistency in usage are not the only challenges faced by
scholars studying MI education development. The relative youth of MI as a science
results in an ununified approach to defining the term ‘medical informatics’. According
to the Canadian MI association, there are more than 50 definitions of this term in the
scientific and academic literature [14]. Such a variety of definitions results in a vague
understanding of this scientific field and has a negative impact on the development of
MI education.
On studying the most widely spread MI definitions, we notice that MI was initially
considered an instrument for improving the health quality by using electronic
computing machinery in healthcare, medical education and research [23]. Naturally,
the MI definition was gradually modified. For instance, P. Reichertz determined MI as
a scientific field studying issues related to analyzing, documenting, managing,
verifying and synthesizing information processes in the healthcare system [30].
According to J. van Bemmel, MI is a science dealing with theoretical and practical
aspects of processing and transferring information based on the knowledge and
experience gained in medicine and healthcare [34]. J. Myers defines MI as a system of
knowledge and techniques necessary for information processing in order to conduct
research and provide high-quality medical services [28]. However, according to the
most commonly used definition of the term, MI is a scientific field that studies medical
data, information and knowledge as well as ways of their retrieval, storage and the most
effective use for problem solving and decision making in medicine and healthcare
system [5; 20; 21].
Taking the above-mentioned into consideration, we come to conclusion that MI
is a relatively young dynamic science and pedagogical phenomenon. Hence, MI
terminology system has not been unified yet. The analysis of the MI-related terms used
in English language documents of international, interregional and national MI
associations enables to make the following assumptions.
Firstly, the English synonymous terms ‘medical informatics’, ‘biomedical
informatics’ and ‘health informatics’ are used for defining the science that studies
medical information, methods for its search, storage, accumulation, dissemination,
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