Clinical Informatics Fellowship

The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and UCLA Health are seeking outstanding applicants for a two-year fellowship in Clinical Informatics (CI) at the University of California, Los Angeles.  The program is open to graduates of residency programs in any specialty.

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The Discipline of Clinical Informatics

Clinical informatics is the scientific discipline focused on the effective use of biomedical information and knowledge in health care. Physicians practicing clinical informatics endeavor to transform health care by analyzing, designing, implementing and evaluating information and communication systems that enhance individual and population health outcomes, improve patient care, and strengthen the clinician-patient relationship. (AMIA) Clinical informatics is central to the delivery of safe, high-quality health care and to innovation in health care.

In 2011, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) approved Clinical Informatics (CI) as a board-eligible subspecialty. Unlike other disciplines, clinical informatics is available as a subspecialty certification for physicians certified in any ABMS-recognized primary specialty (learn more about CI board certification). Beginning in 2018, board eligibility will require completion of a fellowship program in clinical informatics that is certified by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The UCLA Clinical Informatics Fellowship program has received ACGME accreditation.

Educational Experience at UCLA

The fellowship's goal is to develop leaders with expertise in biomedical informatics and health information technology who are prepared to advance the science and practice of clinical informatics within health care delivery systems. The fellowship will provide physicians with experiential training in alignment with ACGME guidelines. Upon successful completion of the two-year program, fellows will be eligible for board certification in clinical informatics. The program's educational experiences will consist of rotations, didactic sessions (including courses), an independent research project, and practice in the fellow's primary clinical specialty.

Rotations

Rotations will consist of assignments to a working unit of the UCLA Health Information Services and Solutions department. This presents a unique opportunity for fellows to work in a health care delivery system which has been named among the nation's "Most Wired" by Hospitals and Health Networks magazine and honored with the HIMSS Analytics' Acute Care Stage 7 Award, representing attainment of the highest level of electronic medical record progress at hospitals and health systems. Most recently, only 1.2 percent of the more than 5,400 U.S. hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics Database have received this recognition. This fellowship program is designed to allow a highly flexible rotation sequence, customized to the fellow's career goals and prior clinical experience.

Didactics

Didactics are delivered by expert faculty, covering the core curriculum, journal club and case studies. Fellows also participate in clinical and research conferences and other educational activities. Coursework in biomedical informatics is available through UCLA's Medical Imaging Informatics program, and other important courses related to biomedical informatics research, including statistical analysis, are available through the UCLA Bioinformatics Interdepartmental Program. Fellows have the option of pursuing a Master's degree as part of the two-year program.

Research Project

Based on personal career objectives and informatics challenges that they identify in rotations, fellows will select a research mentor and a research question to address as their primary research project. Resources of the UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute will be available to support fellow projects, providing research access to EHR data and more.

Clinical Time

Clinical time will be set aside for fellows to practice in their primary specialty.

Accreditation

The Clinical Informatics Fellowship has been approved by the UCLA Graduate Medical Education Committee and accredited through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Faculty & Staff

Program Director
Douglas Bell, MD, PhD
Internal Medicine

Associate Program Director
Jennifer Singer, MD
Urology

Associate Program Director
Michael Pfeffer, MD
Chief Medical Informatics Officer and Internal Medicine

Program Administrator
Kevin Baldwin, MPH, CPHIMS

Fellow Requirements

• Applicants must have graduated from an appropriately licensed medical school located in the United States or Canada, or from a school located elsewhere that is approved by the ABPM.
• Applicants must successfully complete a residency in an ABMS-participating specialty by June 2018, and must be either board-certified or board-eligible at that time.
• Applicants should be eligible for a permanent California medical license.
• Applicants do not need to have formal training in Computer Science or a related discipline, but they need to demonstrate a strong interest and aptitude in Clinical informatics.

Fellow Funding

Salaries and benefits for two fellowship positions are commensurate with level of training. The UCLA Graduate Medical Education Office posts specific information regarding salaries & benefits.

To Apply

Interested parties should submit the online application and send the supplemental materials to CIFellowship@mednet.ucla.edu. Applications for July 2018 will be reviewed on a rolling basis until December 2017.

The application packet includes the following items:

• Online application (includes your personal statement)
• Curriculum vitae, which should include Education, Training, Honors and Awards, Professional Experience, Relevant Publications and Presentations
• 3-4 Professional Letters of Recommendation (sent directly by reference to the program)

Questions or Comments

If you have any questions or comments, please email CIFellowship@mednet.ucla.edu.