Evaluation of effectiveness of teaching Medical Informatics-related courses: the TNMU case

Abstract

Domination of traditional pedagogical strategies in the area of medical education worldwide and in Ukraine is admitted. Definition of Medical Informatics as an interdisciplinary multi-domain field of studying is given. The importance of assessment, comparing, validation and evaluation of different Medical (Health) Informatics academic courses is underscored. New challenges for high medical education area inferred by global threats like worldwide pandemic and military aggressions are emphasized. The necessity for the widening of implementation of the EMR MIS in the Ukraine healthcare system is noted. Lack of digital literacy as one of the key problem during implementation of the EMR MIS is signed. The significance of the proper education methodology for the teaching of the Medical Informatics is confirmed. The experience of teaching of Medical Informatics-related courses at the I. Ya. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University is shown. Composition of typical Medical Informatics course and its delivery using Moodle LMS is presented. The pedagogical experiment for evaluation of students’ theoretical knowledge in the MIS EMR topics during timespan of their education process is conducted. The statistical analysis of the dataset contains results of an assessment of students’ knowledge is performed. The significant improvements in theoretical understanding of MIS EMR topics for senior students are proved. This confirms the successfulness of TNMU’s Medical (Health) Informatics curriculums development and delivering in enhancing both general digital literacy as well as specific healthcare-related IT skills of students.