E L E C T I V E S
COMPUTER
APPLICATIONS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE AND RESEARCH
CS1 Medical
Informatics - Montefiore Medical Center |
CS2 Senior
Elective in Image Analysis |
CS9 Elective
in Computerized Patient Record Systems |
CS10 Elective in Computer Aided Instruction
(CAI) |
CS11 Elective
in Computerized Patient Records Systems
The Sleep-Wake
Disorder Center offers a summer project in Medical Informatics. The
student will use multimedia development tools to develop program material
related to sleep disorders medicine for physician and patient education.
The comprehensive multimedia textbook of sleep medicine which incorporates
audio, video, animation, Medline references and abstracts is continuously
being expanded as new multimedia modules are developed. The student will
select an area of interest and help develop an educational module using
tools, such as a multimedia authorizing program Asymmetrix Toolbook, Adobe
Photoshop, Quark Express and video capture software.
In addition to CD
ROM based multimedia software, the student may be involved in the
development of multimedia on the World Wide Web using Netscape and Java
applications. Pentium computers with 17" monitors plus
appropriate video capture equipment and scanning equipment are available.
The student for this
project should be comfortable with using IBM compatible computer equipment
and having a working knowledge of commonly used computer programs, such as
word processing or spreadsheets. Programming experience in multimedia
authoring or other program is preferable although not essential. Some
knowledge, or use, of the Internet and World Wide Web is preferable.
Dr. Michael J.
Thorpy (920-4841)
All modules, Full
or Half modules
Full-time Maximum 2 AECOM students - 2 Non-AECOM students
Students should contact Dr. Thorpy to arrange elective.
The project uses
image analysis to study structure/function relationships in the brain. The
rat motor system is the experimental model, and algorithms are applied to
PET scan of human patients. The method used is 14 C deoxyglucose
autoradiography to estimate glucose utilization, which is the basis of the
PET scan methology for metabolic mapping. Typical problems are: 1) how to
find the "significant feature" in an autoradiogram of PET scans
using area measurements, contrast enhancement, color coding, 2) how to
determine the alignment of opiate receptor "patches" and neural
activity 3) most of the time in this clerkship would be spent
experimenting with 3D Reconstructions image analysis systems on Macintosh
and Silicon Graphics computers.
Dr. Lucy L. Brown
(430-3728)
All Modules Except 1A & B, 2A & 2B
Full Modules ONLY, Full-Time
Students must contact department to arrange elective.
This elective will
introduce the student to the benefits and problems of implementing a
Computerized Patient Record. The Institute of Medicine of the National
Institutes of Health has published a position paper calling for the
creation of Computerized Patient Records. There are numerous medical,
legal, economic, and ethical issues that arise in trying to make such a
major change in the way medical care is provided. Student may choose
either to work with a small scale experimental patient record system or a
large-scale hospital information system vocabulary project.
The Office of
Computer Based Education is developing an experimental patient record
system which is used by medical students in clinical clerkships. Because
the system is experimental, student researchers will have freedom to try
new ideas. Student will learn about the advantages and disadvantages of
collecting medical information using relational databases and object
orient programming systems. Students will also learn how the interface of
a computer program can effect what data users will collect about their
patients. Previous programming experience is required to work on this
project.
The National Library
of Medicine and the Agency for Health Care Policy Research are funding a
multi-center cooperative effort to work on increasing the transportability
of medical records. Prior work done at AECOM has focused on medical
terminologies and automatic translation of structure and content. Students
will have an opportunity to learn about structured vocabularies,
relational databases, clinical information systems, and internet
protocols. Issues related to patient confidentiality, medical record
security, and research use of medical records will also be covered.
Although not required, prior experience with programming or relational
databases is recommended.
Dr.
Christopher Cimino (430-4211)
All Modules except 2A and 4A
Full or Half Modules
Full or Part Time
Students should contact Dr. Cimino to arrange elective.
Computer Aided
Instruction (CAI) makes use of technology to present educational
information in ways that would otherwise be difficult or impossible. There
are currently three CAI projects underway that students could get involved
in.
Computers provide a
way of displaying a large variety of images. At the same time, networks
provide a way of providing those images at many locations. The World Wide
Web and Hypertext Mark Up Language have become important tools for
presenting educational material over the Internet. Standard course
material (slides and text) can be converted to electronic form and
structured and presented in creative ways. Students getting involved in
this project would learn about creating CD-ROMs, photo retouching, optical
character recognition, and hypertext authoring. No previous programming
experience is necessary.
While the world wide
web provides a method of making basic text and images available, more
dynamic learning interactions are possible using Common Gateway Interfaces
(CGIs) to a database. Currently under development is a database of medical
images. Basic look up and editing functions are provided but this database
provides a wealth of opportunities. Two areas in particular would be
automatic photo-quizzes and companion case database that makes use of the
images. Although not essential, some prior experience with an SQL database
would be helpful.
A paradigm of human
learning can be incorporated into a CAI program. If the paradigm has any
validity, then students who use the program with the paradigm should learn
more than those who use a program without the paradigm. Experiments such
as this provide insight into how people learn, as well as how to create
better teaching programs. A student working on this type of project should
have previous programming experience.
Dr.
Christopher Cimino (430-4211)
All Modules except 2A and 4A
Full or Half Module; Full or Part Time
Students should contact Dr. Cimino to arrange elective.
This elective will
introduce the student to the benefits and problems of implementing a
Computerized Patient Record. The Institute of Medicine of the National
Institutes of Health has published a position paper calling for the
creation of Computerized Patient Records. There are numerous medical,
legal, economic, and ethical issues that arise in trying to make such a
major change in the way medical care is provided. Student may choose
either to work with a small scale experimental patient record system or a
large-scale hospital information system vocabulary project.
The Office of
Computer Based Education is developing an experimental patient record
system which is used by medical students in clinical clerkships. Because
the system is experimental, student researchers will have freedom to try
new ideas. Student will learn about the advantages and disadvantages of
collecting medical information using relational databases and object
orient programming systems. Students will also learn how the interface of
a computer program can effect what data users will collect about their
patients. Previous programming experience is required to work on the
project.
The National Library
of Medicine and the Agency for Health Care Policy Research are funding a
multi-center cooperative effort to work on increasing the transportability
of medical records. Prior work done at AECOM has focused on medical
terminologies and automatic translation of structure and content. Students
will have an opportunity to learn about structured vocabularies,
relational databases, clinical information systems, and internet
protocols. Issues related to patient confidentiality, medical record
security, and research use of medical records will also be covered.
Although not required, prior experience with programming or relational
databases is recommended.
Dr.
Christopher Cimino (430-4211)
All Modules except 2A and 4A
Full or Half Module, Full or Part Time
