Mapping Health Information Technology Training for Future Doctors in the EU

We explored how many medical schools in the European Union teach students about digital health, such as electronic health records and telemedicine. Out of 302 schools, fewer than 30% included digital health training in their programs. Even when offered, these courses were not evenly distributed across countries. Our findings show a need for more consistent digital health education in medical schools to better prepare future doctors for the digital age.

What was the context of our study?

Digital health is becoming a big part of healthcare, helping doctors and nurses manage patient information and provide care remotely. However, many healthcare professionals feel unprepared to use these tools. To find out how future doctors are being trained, we looked at whether medical schools in the EU include digital health courses in their programs.

What did we do?

We reviewed the programs of 302 medical schools across 28 EU countries. We checked if these schools offered digital health courses, whether the courses were required, and how the availability of these courses varied between countries. We also looked at whether factors like a country’s economy or number of medical graduates influenced the inclusion of digital health in medical education.

What did we find?

We discovered that only 29.8% of medical schools in the EU include digital health in their training. In those schools who did offer digital health courses, only about two-thirds made the courses mandatory. Countries with lower incomes were actually more likely to include digital health in their curricula than wealthier countries. Schools in countries with more doctors and medical graduates were also more likely to teach HIT.

Why is this important?

Digital tools like electronic health records are key to modern healthcare, but many doctors feel they are not well-trained to use them. Our study shows that most medical schools in the EU do not include digital health training, leaving future doctors unprepared. Expanding HIT education would ensure that doctors can use technology effectively to improve patient care.

Reference

Giunti G, Guisado-Fernandez E, Belani H, Lacalle-Remigio J. Mapping the Access of Future Doctors to Health Information Technologies Training in the European Union: Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study. J Med Internet Res 2019;21(8):e14086. https://www.jmir.org/2019/8/e14086

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