Enhancing entrepreneurship and professionalism in medical informatics instruction: A collaborative training model

Abstract

This report describes an innovative training program designed to foster entrepreneurship and professionalism in students interested in the field of medical informatics. The course was developed through a private-public interinstitutional collaboration involving four academic institutions, one private firm specializing in health care information management systems, and a philanthropic organization. The program challenged students to serve in multiple roles on multidisciplinary teams and develop an innovative hand-held solution for drug information retrieval. Although the course was technically and behaviorally rigorous and required extensive hands-on experience in a nontraditional learning environment, both students and faculty responded positively.