Experts have designed a framework to help medical institutions equip future physicians for the digital transformation in healthcare.
A group of 211 international experts from 79 countries have published a new framework to help implement digital health curricula in medical education worldwide.
The rapid digitalisation of healthcare and a dearth of digital health education for medical students and junior physicians worldwide means there is an imperative for more training in this field.
Published in JAMA Network Open, the Digital Health Competencies in Medical Education (DECODE) framework is designed to help medical institutions better equip future physicians for the ongoing digital transformation in healthcare.
The international steering group that oversaw the development of the framework included subject matter experts in medical education and digital health research from King’s College London, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), Imperial College London, and Harvard University.
“By providing a globally adaptable set of competencies, we aim to ensure that medical graduates are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and behaviours needed to navigate and leverage digital health technologies effectively,” said Josip Car, professor of population and digital health sciences at King’s and co-lead author of the framework.
The final DECODE framework is made up of four fields – professionalism in digital health, patient and population digital health, health information systems, and health data science – with each domain encompassing a set of competencies and mandatory and discretionary learning outcomes.
“Future doctors must be equipped with the competencies that allow them to respond best to the demands of a digital transformation in healthcare, and to ensure positive patient outcomes,” said Amir Sam, head of Imperial College School of Medicine, and co-author of the framework.
