Led by Noha El-Baz, this UMCG initiative highlights the urgent need to address gaps in education and ensure that both current and future healthcare providers are adept at navigating the digital landscape.
Bridging educational gaps
Through an exploration of the educational landscape, the UMCG innovation project identified significant deficiencies in curricula related to essential digital health topics, such as data science, machine learning, AI and eHealth. The project highlighted the urgent need for basic training in digital health at bachelor's level, some more advanced courses at master's level and more specialised, in-depth courses within research master's and (MD/) doctoral programmes. Ideally, training takes place in a multidisciplinary setting to maximise learning outcomes and practical application in the field.
The overarching goal of this project is to cultivate a generation of healthcare professionals who are not only familiar with digital health technologies, but also capable of using these tools to improve patient care and preventive medicine. This endeavour includes integrating elements of digital health into various programmes within the medical faculty, including medicine, dentistry and exercise science, at both Bachelor's and Master's level.
Impactful action
The project timeline, running from 1 March 2024 to 31 December 2024, emphasises the commitment to timely and impactful action. The project is a collaboration of UMCG's Data Science Center in Health (DASH), the Epidemiology department and the Digital Health Education Team to set clear educational goals, develop effective integration strategies and establish robust frameworks for implementing a comprehensive ‘Digital Healthcare’ learning pathway across the faculty.
Want to know more or have questions? Feel free to contact project leader Noha El-Baz.
