Computer methods and programs in biomedicine
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Comput Methods Programs Biomed · Sep 1987
ReviewPreparing for change: concepts and education in medical informatics.
Medical informatics as a medical discipline has developed over the last decades in parallel with an even more amazing proliferative development in medicine. The question is raised whether this new science, based on formalized and methodological approaches, may contribute to the development of a general theory in medicine as a consequence of the recognition of the influence of control mechanisms and structured information in molecular biology. It is suggested that medical informatics dedicates research to problems 'inside medicine' and that curricula are developed which bring a basic understanding for medical informatics to the medical student. ⋯ The possibility is discussed that the resulting teaching approaches may also be used to convey knowledge in medicine: teaching concepts versus teaching details. Finally, a description of the functional topology of expert systems as they develop is attempted and brought into relation to the architecture of hospital information systems. The increasing importance of expert systems also raises the question of 'decisional trials' as verification procedures when these new tools enter medical practice.
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The discussions of the Tenth Anniversary of the Symposium on Computer Applications in Medical Care (SCAMC) are summarized. Eight different subject areas are addressed: Medical informatics and medical education; Decision making, medical artificial intelligence, modelling and simulations; Image processing, 3-D graphics, and computer networks; Reimbursement policy, legal and regulatory issues; Encoding and representation of medical meaning; Ambulatory medical records systems; Hospital information systems; and Software environments for developing medical information systems. The activities of the 10th SCAMC consisted of Tutorials, Panel Discussions, a Plenary Session, Scientific Demonstrations, and an International Student Paper Competition in Medical Informatics.