College of Medicine MD Curriculum

Clinical Informatics Elective

Title of Elective: Clinical Informatics Elective

Elective Year: 4th year elective

Type of Elective: Non-clinical

Elective site: UT Health Science Campus

Course Number: MDED 714

Blocks available: variable, based on approval of faculty

Number of students per block: 2 students, based on approval of faculty.

Faculty:

Dr. R. Ryan Sadeghian, MD, MBA, MSc, FAAPL, FACHDM, FHIMSS, FAAP
Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO)
Email: reza.sadeghian@utoledo.edu
Phone: 419.383.5205 (office), 412.639.7161 (cell)

Length of Elective: 4 weeks

Course description:

The primary goal of this elective is to provide a comprehensive introduction to Clinical Informatics, emphasizing its critical role in modern healthcare delivery, the integration of emerging technologies, and the application of data-driven decision-making in improving patient care.

Objectives (Based off DECODE Domains)

1.     Professionalism, Ethics, and Accessibility in Digital Health

  • Apply principles of digital professionalism, patient privacy, cybersecurity, and accessibility. (PB-1, MK-5)
  • Analyze and evaluate ethical and social implications of digital health adoption. (PB-1, MK-3, PBL-2)

2.     Patient & Population Digital Health

  • Describe and critically appraise digital health tools (telehealth, wearables, mobile apps, remote monitoring). (MK-5, PBL-2, SBP-4)
  • Identify challenges in digital health literacy and propose solutions that promote access and inclusion.. (SBP-2, SBP-6)

3.     Health Information Systems

  • Explain the structure and function of EHRs, health information exchanges, and interoperability standards (MK-5, PC-4)
  • Analyze usability and workflow integration challenges. (SBP-4, PBL-2)

4.     Health Data Science and Analytics

  • Interpret dashboards and data visualizations for clinical and population health. (PC-6, PBL-2)
  • Assess opportunities and limitations of predictive analytics, AI, and ML in healthcare. (MK-7, PBL-2, SBP-3)

5.     Emerging Technologies & Innovation

  • Identify and evaluate emerging digital health technologies (AI, precision medicine, genomics). (MK-4, PBL-2)
  • Propose innovative applications of informatics to improve patient care. (PBL-2, SBP-4, PC-4)

Elective Structure

Instructional Methods

Didactics and Seminars (20%)

  • Attend lectures on core clinical informatics topics.
  • Engage in interactive workshops on data analytics, AI tools, and their applications in clinical settings.

Hands-on Experience (30%)

  • Shadow IT staff and clinical informaticists.
  • Participate in EHR optimization sessions.
  • Engage in data analysis projects using real (de-identified) healthcare data.

Project Work (30%)

  • Design and implement a small-scale informatics project.
  • Present project findings to the clinical informatics team.

Journal Club and Literature Review (10%)

  • Review and discuss recent publications in clinical informatics.
  • Explore case studies of successful health IT implementations.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration (10%)

  • Attend meetings with clinical teams to understand their IT needs.
  • Participate in IT governance committee meetings.

Assessment Methods

  • Participation in didactics and hands-on activities (40%)
    • Active participation in all lectures, workshops, and shadowing experiences is required.
  • Reflection Assignment (20%)
    • A 1 page reflection on equity, ethics, or workflow in digital health
  • Final Project presentation and report (40%)
    • Trainees will design a clinical informatics project and present their findings at the end of the elective.

Optional Reading

  • "Biomedical Informatics: Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine" by Edward H. Shortliffe and James J. Cimino
  • Executive Evolution: A Guide for the Modern Leaders by Dr. R. Ryan Sadeghian
  • Rebooting Care: Prescribing AI to Prevent Physician Burnout by Dr. R. Ryan Sadeghian
  • The Talent Exodus: How Poor Leadership Decisions Erode Top Teams by Dr. R. Ryan Sadeghian
  • Intelligent Healing: Clinicians at the AI Forefront by Dr. R. Ryan Sadeghian
    (These books are optional)
  • Additional readings provided by the instructor
  • Selected articles from JAMIA, npj Digital Medicine, and other relevant journals

Optional Learning Opportunities

  • Attend health IT conferences or webinars
  • Participate in online courses on data science or machine learning in healthcare

Prerequisites: Successful completion of the pre-clerkship curriculum

Administrative Contact:
Maura Luettke
Email: maura.luettke@utoledo.edu 

ECC Approved
November 2025

 

Last Updated: 11/24/25