Clinical Informatics Physicians – The Missing Link in Building AI-Enabled Healthcare in the Arab World

1- Background
* Clinical Informatics Physicians are medical doctors who first complete a medical degree (MD), then an accredited residency in any clinical specialty (e.g., internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, family medicine).
* After residency (or after being certified in a specialty), they may pursue a 2-year fellowship in Clinical Informatics. This subspecialty integrates medicine, data science, and digital health systems to ensure the safe and effective adoption of AI tools.

2- Training Pathway
* MD (medical degree) → Residency (board-eligible or board-certified in a specialty) → 2-year Clinical Informatics fellowship → Board certification in Clinical Informatics.
* Since 2025, only physicians who complete an accredited fellowship are eligible for board certification. Before that, physicians could also qualify through a ‘practice pathway’ based on sufficient professional experience in informatics, but this alternative route has now been closed.

3- Global Reality
* United States: Clinical Informatics has been a recognized subspecialty since 2011, with structured fellowships and board exams.
* Medical education trend: Many countries are starting to integrate AI and informatics into medical school curricula and continuing medical education, just as genetics and biostatistics were integrated in earlier decades.
* Other regions: In many countries (including the Middle East), there are no accredited Clinical Informatics Physicians, creating a critical gap in AI readiness.

4- Role and Importance
* Serve as a bridge between technology and bedside care.
* Ensure AI systems align with clinical workflows, patient safety, and healthcare efficiency.
* Just as cardiologists teach the heart and pulmonologists the lungs, informatics physicians teach and lead the integration of AI in healthcare.

5- Jordan’s Gap
* Currently, Jordan has no certified Clinical Informatics Physicians.
* This absence risks leaving clinicians unprepared for rapid AI adoption.
* Establishing local training programs and fellowships will be essential for Jordan and the wider Arab region to advance in AI-driven healthcare.

Key References

1- ACGME Program Requirements for Clinical Informatics:
http://www.acgme.org/globalassets/pfassets/programrequirements/381_clinicalinformatics_2023.pdf

2- ABPM – Clinical Informatics Certification Pathway:
https://www.theabpm.org/become-certified/subspecialties/clinical-informatics/

3- Northwestern Pathology – Clinical Informatics Fellowship Overview:
https://www.pathology.northwestern.edu/education/fellowships/clinical-informatics.html

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