Hello,
It is my pleasure to join this online community and hopefully contribute to this important initiative. In this first post I would like to briefly outline my interest in the AFCM-Infoway Physician in Training project.
Few years back, when I did my post-doc research in Israel I studied how Israeli primary care physicians (mostly family physicians but also some specialists- especially pediatricians- in the community) use their EMRs. We specifically looked for potential pitfalls such as new types of errors, increased cognitive load and impact on patient-physician communication, as well as some of the strategies, best practices, and enablers to overcome them. The results were published in a paper in Journal of General Internal Medicine in 2009 and a chapter (added to my resources) in "Health care and the Effect of Technology: Developments, Challenges and Advancements" (Editor S. Kabene) provides a brief summary. Following this study, we developed a simulation-based training intervention for family medicine residents. The simulation scenarios and evaluation tools were pilot tested (see abstract from NAPCRG 2010 meeting), and my colleagues are about to start a controlled trial at the Israeli Center for Medical Simulation (MSR) soon.
We're also developing some leaner and less expensive interventions (one of them is a virtual, e-learning module). I would love to take these training modules, make the necessary contextual and cultural adaptations, and apply them here in Canada. As a researcher, I would also like to accompany these interventions with evaluation research.
Another way I may contribute is through our Master of Health Informatics program at UofT (http://www.hpme.utoronto.ca/about/pp/mhi.htm). Our students are highly qualified and as part of the program's requirements they have to do a 16 weeks practicum in the summer. Some of them may be interested in contributing their knowledge and skills as budding informaticians to the physician in training program.
