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Training digitally competent clinicians

BMJ 2021; 372 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n757 (Published 25 March 2021) Cite this as: BMJ 2021;372:n757
  1. Videha Sharma, clinical research fellow in health informatics12,
  2. Georgina Moulton, professor of biohealth informatics and education1,
  3. John Ainsworth, professor of health informatics1,
  4. Titus Augustine, professor of transplant surgery2
  1. 1Centre for Health Informatics, University of Manchester Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester, UK
  2. 2Department of Renal and Pancreatic Transplantation, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, UK
  3. Correspondence to: V Sharma videha.sharma@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

Inadequate training in digital skills fails students, clinicians, and patients

Medical education aims to produce well rounded, knowledgeable, and compassionate doctors who are capable of listening and making critical decisions to benefit patients. Advances in technology have drastically changed the way doctors undertake their duties.1 Clinicians today use an array of evolving digital systems to access results, record notes, and order tests.2 Information technology and electronic health records have become an integral part of the health system, and care professionals across all specialties are increasingly dependent on them.3

Digital health

Digital health describes the application of technologies to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare services. Most clinical activity today is digitally enhanced. Electronic health records, for example, allow care providers to view patient data more efficiently, help communicate information securely, and support evidence based decision making. Yet, medical school curriculums rarely include health informatics.4 A recent EU-wide survey showed that only 40% of medical students feel prepared for working in a digitised healthcare …

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