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Does anyone know of residency programs that offer dual a residencies with a strong curriculum in medical informatics?
I mean, the doctors dont design the technology or program the computers. They simply use whatever the engineer/technician has set up for them.
Originally posted by MacGyver:
•I agree if you use super high level GUI development environments that are built on text-based languages that you can create full blown applications in days.•
Yes things have certainly gotten better. Not having to do assembly anymore brings more people into the fold.
•My point is that you cant just walk up to a computer, start writing in C++ code•
It does take longer to write things in C++, that is certainly the case. But why reinvent the wheel? This is a fundamental point. The code has been written already for the majority of the code that varies little from program to program. It is a backwards step for the person with the problem to sit down and write from scratch these reuable elements when they have already been done in a RAD enviroment. If what they need is a computer form on the desktop to perform risk analysis research on the desktop screen the output of a EEG device, they should have the ability to only write the code that differs in their own program. The fundamental reason behind a RAD is a reduction in redundant code to be written. The code required to load a bitmap stream, uncompress it, place it on a form has already been done and many times over. The person with the problem shouldn't need to waste time on this. The properties for a bitmap are set in a listbox of available properties--one configures the properties as desired, then just writes 2 or 3 lines of code in a handler telling how that bitmap should be updated in regards to the overall program.
•If, as you say, medical professors can learn the basics of medical informatics development in the scope of a single weekend, doesnt it seem like overkill to go to a residency for years devoted to this subject?•
The residency option is for students who wish to learn more than the basics. To become a master at a successful programming style for long-term mantainence, sharp project management, medical funding, team-based development all require plenty of hands-on experience, and learning at an existing center of excellence is one of the best places to find it. Training in the actual field of medical informatics give the best experience if that is their chosen path. The medical aspect of a residency is a full-load, 3 years certainly is not too much time to integrate the informatics aspect.
•You certainly dont need to know clinical skills to write programs for databases.•
I've posted the answer to this before. The crucial difference is that the person with the problem knows how to best solve the problem in a way that fits their own needs in practice.
•or are you saying that doctors DESIGN computer chips, processors, and other components?•
See above post. Within the subset of informatics that deals with hardware, it is not cost-effective to design, nor manufacture a processor, as it re-inventing the wheel at a far higher price which increases the total cost of the product in healthcare. This is not specific to medicine, few custom target market shops are going to build a chip in house when a Motorola embedded would cost 300 times less and be out the door immediately instead of waiting for a 6 month development cycle. Medical hardware development is more usually focused on the components which are specific to medical product being developed. You will find alot of informatics projects in which the hardware budget is kept tightly under control with only one custom-built component being required to manufacture, and the rest being built with off-the-shelf components, and some software powering the toolchain. In the marketplace, these are what sell. An overbloated budget of a full custom hardware won't make it past the funding table, much less to the customer's hospital when cheaper alternatives are in stiff competition.
Best wishes, roo