For the first time, a data scientist track is being offered to internal medicine residents. The data scientist track will empower doctors to formulate research questions rooted in their own clinical experience and to answer them using data not only from a single healthcare system (Hopkins) but also by leveraging other data from partners around the world. This approach enhances the generalizability and reliability of their research, ensuring that solutions can be applied beyond a single institution. Ultimately, answers to these research questions can inform and/or improve patient care and clinical decision making.
Drs. Christopher Mecoli and Matt Robinson are teaming up with Dr. Paul Nagy to lead this exciting new effort. In this debut year, 19 residents applied and 6 were selected to comprise the first cohort.
Dr. Mecoli explains, “This track gives doctors the opportunity to better understand healthcare research. Not only will they gain experience from the point-of-care perspective (treating patients at the bedside), but they’ll also understand how the data they enter into the electronic health record can be best utilized to conduct cutting-edge research.” These synergistic perspectives will enable the development of better research questions and a more nuanced interpretation of results.
According to Dr. Robinson, “There is often a disconnect between the bedside clinicians who understand the most urgent research questions in medicine and the informaticians with the skills to answer them. We aim to empower physicians at the beginning of their careers with informatics skills so that they may collaborate effectively with informaticians to rapidly fill key evidence gaps and improve patient care.”
These residents will take a 2-week data science course in summer 2025. They will then conduct research in their area of fellowship interest, partnering with an informaticist/data scientist who will serve as the resident’s mentor. Residents will learn about and work directly with OHDSI tools and the OMOP common data model. According to Dr. Nagy, “The goals for these residents include obtaining IRB approval, conducting a study across the OHDSI evidence network, conducting data analysis, and ultimately publishing a manuscript. We are excited to see what these new data scientists will accomplish.”