GUEST SPEAKER

The Connected Workforce: A Vision for Heath informatics Education in Botswana and Beyond

Dr. Prudence Dalrymple
Drexel University’s College of Computing & Informatics, U.S.A

Abstract

Healthcare delivery is changing globally due to the growing presence of information technology and the increasing ability of health care providers and patient to create electronic records and access digital resources. More and more, healthcare is delivered through a multidisciplinary team—doctors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers and information specialists all work together to treat the patient holistically. Researchers depend more and more on computational methods to push the frontiers of biomedical research. In such a diverse and rapidly expending environment, it becomes challenging as well as vitally important to articulate the goals of professional and graduate education in the health related disciplines.
This talk will outline the issues that educators and practitioners need to confront as they move their curricula forward. Drawing on examples from elsewhere in the world, the speaker will point to approaches that are currently being used to design and deliver education through academic course and on-the job training to produce a vital and interdisciplinary health informatics workforce capable of addressing the new realities of patient care in an increasingly challenging world.
This talk will also introduce a participatory session in which educators and practitioners attending the conference can engage in a guided discussion about the issues that they face in their own environments. Together with experts who are familiar with sub-Saharan African healthcare environments as well as with other health delivery systems worldwide, attendees will exchange information and experiences in curriculum development and delivery, with an emphasis on the “installed base” of healthcare practitioners of diverse disciplines. The outcomes of this supplementary session are aimed at increasing attendees’ awareness of new trends in educational delivery, recognizing the challenges associated with delivering meaningful education to working professionals and setting new directions in health informatics education and training.

Biography of the Guest Speaker

Dr. Prudence Dalrymple is Research and Teaching Professor at Drexel University’s College of Computing & Informatics in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (U.S.A) where she directs the Master of Science in Health Informatics degree program. She holds a PhD in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MS in Health Sciences Informatics from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In addition to her research and teaching, Dr. Dalrymple sits on the Commission on Accreditation of Health Informatics and Health Information Management and is a Principal Investigator of an Informatics Workforce Development grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Her research in health informatics reflects a long standing interest in the user—whether a researcher, a patient, or a citizen seeking information for a better life. She is the author of over 65 articles and book chapters and a frequent presenter at national and international conferences. In 2014, she was elected a Fellow of the Medical Library Association.