CONCLUSION
The term ‘medical informatics’ appeared in the 1970’s, however the first
penetration of electronic computing machinery began in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The
ramified MI-related terminology is characterized by the absence of a single approach
to its naming and definition. The results of the present study suggest that in the English-
language scientific literature there are three umbrella terms used to define the study of
medical data and information as well as methods of their processing by using modern
information and communication technologies to improve the quality, availability and
efficiency of health services in the healthcare system. The preference for their usage
depends on the principle of geographic area: ‘biomedical informatics’ is widely spread
in the USA, ‘health informatics’ is preferred in Canada and ‘medical informatics’
dominates in the English-language literature of European countries.
The results also show that MI education is a modern dynamic pedagogical
phenomenon in the system of higher education. In the pedagogical context, MI
education is differentiated into an academic discipline and a specialty of MI
professional training. In the first case, MI is considered an integral part of higher
medical education. Medical students study it in order to develop MI competency, i.e. a
set of skills to use information and communication technologies in their professional
practice for the effective processing of medical data and information, making rational
medical decisions, providing medical care at a distance, conducting medical research,
working with electronic health records, etc.
In the second case, MI is a specialty that is gradually gaining its popularity in the
system of higher education. Its aim consists in training MI professionals able to apply
a unique system of knowledge about medical care, technical skills and information
technology tools. This unique system of knowledge is a background necessary for the
development of MI professional competency, i.e. skills of creating complex
information and communication means for retrieving, collecting, accumulating, storing
and processing medical data and information for various medical purposes with the
general goal of improving the quality of the healthcare.
Nevertheless, the development of MI education in the system of higher education
meets a lot of challenges. At present, they include insufficient funding of MI
educational projects, inadequate computerization of the healthcare sector, human factor
and the absence of MI profession description in international and national standard
occupational classifications.
Therefore, the results presented here may facilitate further research into the
development of MI as an academic discipline and specialty in the system of higher
education. In particular, perspectives for future scientific enquiries may include but
should not be limited to the study of preconditions for MI education evolution and the
history of its development nationally or internationally.
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