Intended for healthcare professionals

Student Careers

IT and medicine

BMJ 2007; 334 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.0705194 (Published 01 May 2007) Cite this as: BMJ 2007;334:0705194
  1. Sarah Aldington, medical research fellow1,
  2. Imogen Thompson, medical research fellow1,
  3. Geoffrey Robinson, chief medical officer1,
  4. Richard Beasley, director1
  1. 1Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand

Getting acquainted with rapidly advancing information technology is a prerequisite for clinical competency, say Sarah Aldington and colleagues

Advances in information technology (IT) have redefined the practice of medicine12. IT has become an integral part of all facets of medicine, and it is now essential that all junior doctors obtain the skills to use it. Junior doctors simply have no choice but to master computer skills, which are now a prerequisite for achieving and maintaining clinical competency.

A command of IT also has the advantage of making the junior doctor's working life easier and provides a good basis for ongoing medical education and training3. The world of IT is developing at great speed, and competency in this area is crucial or doctors will get left behind.

Computerised hospital systems

In hospitals throughout the world, patients' information and communication systems are becoming increasingly computerised in an attempt to use the latest technology to improve patient care. The application is wide ranging-from electronic medical records to digital radiography to intranets that give local clinical guidelines and policies. Investigations can be ordered and drugs prescribed electronically. Although a paperless hospital is probably a remote possibility, most things in a hospital system can be done electronically.

The UK Academy of Medical Royal Colleges gives a practical list of core requirements for the provision of IT services in hospitals (box 1)4. Junior doctors should be familiar with these recommendations, which are considered essential to enable them to do clinical work. Junior doctors should bring this list of recommendations to the attention of management if hospitals do not provide adequate IT services.

LPWoods

Box 1: Core requirements for IT services

  • Does your hospital provide these?

  • Clinic letters and discharge summaries already stored electronically should …

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