The 3rd-Generation Federal State Educational Standard (2012) introduced Medical Informatics as a part of the curriculum for first-year students of medical universities. Before that, Computer Science was taught for first-year students, while junior and senior students had courses in Medical Informatics. Such changes in the curriculum make it difficult to teach Medical Informatics for first-year students, as they do not have sufficient training in the field of clinical disciplines and organisation of health care, which are the subject of Medical Informatics.
The list of professional competences of a graduate of a medical school includes the «ability and readiness to work with the medical and technical equipment that is used to treat patients, firm knowledge on how to use computers, how to obtain information from various sources, how to work with information in global computer networks, how to apply the capacities of modern information technologies to solve daily professional tasks» (PK-9).
This textbook is dedicated to the study of these professional competencies. It is based on the approximate curriculum of Medical Informatics prepared under the direction of T. Zarubina, Head of Department of Cybernetics and Informatics of Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University.
Taking into account the different backgrounds of high school graduates in the field of Informatics, the proposed textbook covers both General Informatics, which is partially studied in secondary school, and medical information systems used in the diagnostic and treatment process, and medical institutions management. In addition, the possibilities of Internet resources and the use of telemedicine technology to improve the level of health care is described. The book discusses the idea of creating a Unified Medical Information Space as set out in the Concept of Creating a Unified Public Health Information System» (Order of the Ministry of Health of Russia No. 364 of April 28, 2011).