Informatics fellowship

[reca]

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Does anyone know much about clinical informatics fellowships for psychiatrists? I've seen it mentioned as a fellowship that psychiatrists can do but my cursory search shows that the majority don't accept psychiatrists. Anyone know which ones do and what exactly the fellowship entails?

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

UC Davis has one that I know psychiatrists have done.

 

[dl2dp2]

It's better if you just do a T32 in informatics and apply for grants in this area than doing a formal informatics fellowship which is typically not relevant to you (this is usually for pathologists etc).

 

[FlowRate]

Sluox points out that it depends what sort of informatics fellowship you do. Informatics relevant to pathology (mostly lab related) has no relevance to most other clinical specialties. Other informatics fellowships tend to be systems/public health focused and more broadly applicable. At least two of the fellowships in Boston accept psychiatrists.

I'm not sure that I agree that doing a T32 is necessarily better than a formal fellowship. You have to do a fellowship if you want to claim the clinical specialty (can't get grandfathered in at this point). It will probably help to do a fellowship or master's if you want to be a CMIO, as well. If you want to do informatics research, productivity is probably more important than credential.

Also, my own cursory review of CI programs shows most of them saying something similar to "Applicants must be ABMS board certified or board eligible in a primary specialty" which means "literally any specialty training."

 

[SourceOfDenial]

Going through VA HSR&D may be an option too. I’d say figure out what your goals are first and work backwards to find the right program/position.

 

[Username2015]

Does anyone know much about clinical informatics fellowships for psychiatrists? I've seen it mentioned as a fellowship that psychiatrists can do but my cursory search shows that the majority don't accept psychiatrists. Anyone know which ones do and what exactly the fellowship entails?

There are plenty of informatics fellowships that would take a psychiatrist.

How come you’re interested in the fellowship? What are you hoping to get out of it and do you need the fellowship to get that?

From talking with current informatics fellows, it seems that after graduation, most end up doing almost full clinical work with a bit of informatics and over the years they can increase the proportion of their time spent doing informatics. You may be able to learn the same skills by working with the EHR and informatics groups at your hospital in your free time as an attending without doing a fellowship. Also, consider how some programs are more applied/practical and involve working on projects with the hospitals EHR team, while others are more research based and/or theoretical.