Abstract
The specialized university curriculum for medical informatics (MI) at the University
of Heidelberg/School of Technology Heilbronn is one of the oldest educational approaches
in the field of medical informatics, and has been successful for 25 years with about
1,000 graduates (Diplom-Informatikerin der Medizin or Diplom-Informatiker der Medizin).
It belongs to the category of dedicated master’s programs for medical informatics
and is based on the concept of medical informatics as a medical discipline in its
own right. The curriculum is oriented towards the total spectrum of medical informatics
ranging from health care economics, biosignal and medical image processing, medical
documentation, to information and knowledge processing in medicine. It is a 4.5-year
program with strong emphasis on the methodological foundations of medical informatics
and on practical education in a number of specific laboratories. Thirty-five students
are admitted each semester, and in total about 440 students are enrolled. The faculty
consists of 17 full-time members and about 25 part-time lecturers. We report on characteristics,
structure and contents of the new 5th version of the curriculum and discuss the features
of a specialized curriculum for medical informatics with respect to the challenges
for medical informatics in the 21st century.
Keywords
Medical informatics - health informatics - curriculum - education - training
