R Haux1. 1. Prof. Dr. Reinhold Haux, Peter L. Reichertz Institute for Medical Informatics, University of Braunschweig - Institute of Technology and Hannover Medical School, Muehlenpfordtstr. 23, D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany, Tel: +49(0)531 391 9500, Fax: +49(0)531 391 9502, E-mail: Reinhold.Haux@plri.de, www.plri.de.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: What are the determining factors for good research in medical informatics or, from a broader perspective, in biomedical and health informatics? METHOD: From the many lessons learned during my professional career, I tried to identify a fair sampling of such factors. On the occasion of giving the IMIA Award of Excellence lecture during MedInfo 2013, they were presented for discussion. RESULTS: Sixteen determining factors (df) have been identified: early identification and promotion (df1), appropriate education (df2), stimulating persons and environments (df3), sufficient time and backtracking opportunities (df4), breadth of medical informatics competencies (df5), considering the necessary preconditions for good medical informatics research (df6), easy access to high-quality knowledge (df7), sufficient scientific career opportunities (df8), appropriate conditions for sustainable research (df9), ability to communicate and to solve problems (df10), as well as to convey research results (df11) in a highly inter- and multidisciplinary environment, ability to think for all and, when needed, taking the lead (df12), always staying unbiased (df13), always keeping doubt (df14), but also always trying to provide solutions (df15), and, finally, being aware that life is more (df16). CONCLUSIONS: Medical Informatics is an inter- and multidisciplinary discipline "avant la lettre". Compared to monodisciplinary research, inter- and multidisciplinary research does not only provide significant opportunities for solving major problems in science and in society. It also faces considerable additional challenges for medical informatics as a scientific field. The determining factors, presented here, are in my opinion crucial for conducting successful research and for developing a research career. Since medical informatics as a field has today become an important driving force for research progress, especially in biomedicine and health care, but also in fields like computer science, it may be helpful to consider such factors in relation with research and education in our discipline.
OBJECTIVE: What are the determining factors for good research in medical informatics or, from a broader perspective, in biomedical and health informatics? METHOD: From the many lessons learned during my professional career, I tried to identify a fair sampling of such factors. On the occasion of giving the IMIA Award of Excellence lecture during MedInfo 2013, they were presented for discussion. RESULTS: Sixteen determining factors (df) have been identified: early identification and promotion (df1), appropriate education (df2), stimulating persons and environments (df3), sufficient time and backtracking opportunities (df4), breadth of medical informatics competencies (df5), considering the necessary preconditions for good medical informatics research (df6), easy access to high-quality knowledge (df7), sufficient scientific career opportunities (df8), appropriate conditions for sustainable research (df9), ability to communicate and to solve problems (df10), as well as to convey research results (df11) in a highly inter- and multidisciplinary environment, ability to think for all and, when needed, taking the lead (df12), always staying unbiased (df13), always keeping doubt (df14), but also always trying to provide solutions (df15), and, finally, being aware that life is more (df16). CONCLUSIONS: Medical Informatics is an inter- and multidisciplinary discipline "avant la lettre". Compared to monodisciplinary research, inter- and multidisciplinary research does not only provide significant opportunities for solving major problems in science and in society. It also faces considerable additional challenges for medical informatics as a scientific field. The determining factors, presented here, are in my opinion crucial for conducting successful research and for developing a research career. Since medical informatics as a field has today become an important driving force for research progress, especially in biomedicine and health care, but also in fields like computer science, it may be helpful to consider such factors in relation with research and education in our discipline.
Entities:
Keywords:
Medical informatics; biomedical informatics; health informatics; interdisciplinary research; multidisciplinary research; research
Authors: Reinhold Haux; Andreas Hein; Marco Eichelberg; Jens-E Appell; Hans-Jürgen Appelrath; Christian Bartsch; Thomas Bisitz; Jörg Bitzer; Matthias Blau; Susanne Boll; Michael Buschermöhle; Felix Büsching; Birte Erdmann; Uwe Fachinger; Juliane Felber; Tobias Fleuren; Matthias Gietzelt; Stefan Goetze; Mehmet Gövercin; Axel Helmer; Wilko Heuten; Volker Hohmann; Rainer Huber; Manfred Hülsken-Giesler; Gerold Jacobs; Riana Kayser; Arno Kerling; Timo Klingeberg; Yvonne Költzsch; Harald Künemund; Jennifer Kunze; Wolfram Ludwig; Michael Marschollek; Birger Martens; Markus Meis; Eike Michael Meyer; Jochen Meyer; Wolfgang Nebel; Franz J Neyer; Petra-Karin Okken; Hartmut Remmers; Lars Rölker-Denker; Thomas Rohdenburg; Meinhard Schilling; Gisela C Schulze; Bianying Song; Jens Spehr; Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen; Uwe Tegtbur; Wilfried Thoben; Peter Van Hengel; Stefan Wabnik; Friedrich Wahl; Sandra Wegel; Olaf Wilken; Simon Winkelbach; Thorben Wist; Manfred Wittrock; Klaus-Hendrik Wolf; Lars Wolf; Melanie Zokoll-Van Derlaan Journal: Inform Health Soc Care Date: 2010 Sep-Dec Impact factor: 2.439
Authors: R Haux; E Ammenwerth; A Häber; G Hübner-Bloder; P Knaup-Gregori; G Lechleitner; F Leiner; R Weber; A Winter; A C Wolff Journal: Methods Inf Med Date: 2006 Impact factor: 2.176
Authors: John Mantas; Elske Ammenwerth; George Demiris; Arie Hasman; Reinhold Haux; William Hersh; Evelyn Hovenga; K C Lun; Heimar Marin; Fernando Martin-Sanchez; Graham Wright Journal: Methods Inf Med Date: 2010-01-07 Impact factor: 2.176
Authors: Petra Knaup; Elske Ammenwerth; Carl Dujat; Andrew Grant; Arie Hasman; Andreas Hein; Achim Hochlehnert; Casimir Kulikowski; John Mantas; Victor Maojo; Michael Marschollek; Lincoln Moura; Maik Plischke; Rainer Röhrig; Jürgen Stausberg; Katsuhiko Takabayashi; Frank Uckert; Alfred Winter; Klaus-Hendrik Wolf; Reinhold Haux Journal: J Med Syst Date: 2014-07 Impact factor: 4.460