Why a curriculum in health computing?

Abstract

The significant social need for health computing professionals is discussed and a justification for curriculum development is presented. Health computing is seen to be a discipline or profession which is based in the three academic fields of computer science, health science, and sociology. But there is also a need for a synthesis, or focus, of these fields on the health care system through an achieved power of abstraction and sense of system relationships and dynamics. A concept of the role which health computing professionals must play is given by examination of the health world on three levels - relating to patients as individuals, to people in the aggregate, and to public policy for health care. The intent of the curriculum being developed is to graduate people who are technically competent, socially aware, and equipped to weigh values - people who can function as leaders for the profession.