This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Masys, D. R. Articles by Shortliffe, E. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Masys, D. R. Articles by Shortliffe, E. H.

Are Medical Informatics and Nursing Informatics Distinct Disciplines?

The 1999 ACMI Debate

Affiliations of the authors: University of California—San Diego, La Jolla, California (DRM); University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin (PFB); Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee (JGO); National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland (MC); Stanford University, Stanford, California (EHS).

Correspondence and reprints: Daniel R. Masys, MD, Director of Biomedical Informatics, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of California—San Diego, School of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Drive, BSB Room 1317, La Jolla, CA 92093-0602; e-mail: <dmasys{at}ucsd.edu>.

Abstract The 1999 debate of the American College of Medical Informatics focused on the proposition that medical informatics and nursing informatics are distinctive disciplines that require their own core curricula, training programs, and professional identities. Proponents of this position emphasized that informatics training, technology applications, and professional identities are closely tied to the activities of the health professionals they serve and that, as nursing and medicine differ, so do the corresponding efforts in information science and technology. Opponents of the proposition asserted that informatics is built on a re-usable and widely applicable set of methods that are common to all health science disciplines, and that "medical informatics" continues to be a useful name for a composite core discipline that should be studied by all students, regardless of their health profession orientation.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				T.K. Schleyer Dental Informatics: An Emerging Biomedical Informatics Discipline Adv. Dent. Res., December 1, 2003; 17(1): 4 - 8. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J C Wyatt and J L Y Liu Basic concepts in medical informatics J. Epidemiol. Community Health, November 1, 2002; 56(11): 808 - 812. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Staggers and C. B. Thompson The Evolution of Definitions for Nursing Informatics: A Critical Analysis and Revised Definition J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc., May 1, 2002; 9(3): 255 - 261. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. H. Shortliffe and A. M. Garber Training Synergies Between Medical Informatics and Health Services Research: Successes and Challenges J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc., March 1, 2002; 9(2): 133 - 139. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. SCHLEYER and H. SPALLEK Dental informatics: A cornerstone of dental practice J Am Dent Assoc, May 1, 2001; 132(5): 605 - 613. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]