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Participant Perceptions of the Influences of the NLM-Sponsored Woods Hole Medical Informatics Course

Affiliations of the authors: Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University, New York, NY (VLP, JJC); McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (TB); Leapfrog Communications, New York, NY (AC); Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA (CN).

Correspondence and reprints: Vimla L. Patel, PhD, DSc, Department of Biomedical Informatics, 622 West 168th Street, VC-5, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032-3720; e-mail: <patel{at}dbmi.columbia.edu>.

Received for publication: 08/03/04; accepted for publication: 01/21/05.

This report provides an evaluation of the National Library of Medicine–sponsored Woods Hole Medical Informatics (WHMI) course and the extent to which the objectives of the program are achieved. Two studies were conducted to examine the participants' perceptions of both the short-term (spring 2002) and the long-term influences (1993 through 2002) on knowledge, skills, and behavior. Data were collected through the use of questionnaires, semistructured telephone interviews, and participant observation methods to provide both quantitative and qualitative assessment. The participants of the spring 2002 course considered the course to be an excellent opportunity to increase their knowledge and understanding of the field of medical informatics as well as to meet and interact with other professionals in the field to establish future collaborations. Past participants remained highly satisfied with their experience at Woods Hole and its influence on their professional careers and their involvement in a broad range of activities related to medical informatics. This group considered their knowledge and understanding of medical informatics to be of greater quality, had increased their networking with other professionals, and were more confident and motivated to work in the field. Many of the participants feel and show evidence of becoming effective agents of change in their institutions in the area of medical informatics, which is one of the objectives of the program.