title: Medical informatics in the internal medicine clerkship: Results of a national survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medical Informatics (MI) is increasingly a critical aspect of medical education and patient care.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study assessed the status of MI training, perception of needs and barriers for the implementation of MI curricula and utilization of information technology (IT) in patient care and medical education.
  
  
  METHODS
  The MI questionnaire was a part of the 2006 Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine survey of 110 institutional members. Descriptive statistics were calculated using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 12 and all p-values are two-tailed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty-three (75%) members responded. Out of this, 52, 32.5 and 12% report that students receive MI training for patient care activities during pre-clinical years, third-year internal medicine clerkship or intersession, respectively. House staff critiques (46.4%), patient billing (44.1%), radiographic imaging (40.8%), accessing clinical data (37.3%), and student evaluations (36.1%) were areas in which 35% of respondents use IT 'all the time.' Fifty-one percent of respondents rate the adequacy of training in MI as average. Cost, time and lack of trained faculty were primary barriers for the implementation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Significant variations exist in timing of MI curricula. IT is utilized more frequently for non-patient activities. Studies are needed to examine the needs, processes and outcomes of MI curricula.
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois, Peoria, 61637-3001, USA. aiyer@uic.edu
authors.forename: Meenakshy K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Aiyer
authors.forename: Josephine L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Dorsch
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mintz
authors.forename: Dario M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Torre
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Klara K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Papp
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Durning
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002982:Clinical Clerkship / Q000379:methods*; D005180:Faculty, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine / Q000193:education*; D008297:Male; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000193:education*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires