Coverage of IMIA-recommended Competencies by Masters in Health Informatics Degree Programs in East Africa

Objective The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) has provided recommendations on Education in Biomedical and Health Informatics (BMHI) as guidance on competencies relevant to education of BMHI specialists. However, it remains unclear how well these competencies have been adopted to guide emerging degree programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We evaluated comprehensiveness of IMIA-recommended competency coverage by Masters in Health Informatics (MSc HI) programs in East Africa. Materials and methods Two investigators independently reviewed curricula for seven accredited MSc HI university programs in the East Africa region to extract covered competencies using an instrument based on the IMIA education recommendations. Descriptive statistics were used to determine competency coverage by institution and across institutions and by IMIA-defined competency domains. Duplication of competency coverage in courses within each curriculum was also evaluated. Multivariable logistic regression was used to test whether coverage of IMIA-recommended competencies differed between institutions. Results Cohen’s Kappa for coding competencies within courses was 0.738 (95% CI, 0.713–0.764). Coverage of the 40 recommended required IMIA competencies by institutional curricula ranged from 25 (62.5%) to 39 (97.5%) (p < 0.0001), with only 18 (45%) of these competencies covered by all seven institutions. No significant variations in competency coverage were observed between the domains of information sciences (83.7%), health sciences (71.4%), and core BMHI competencies (83.5%) (p = 0.13). On average, each competency was covered by 3.06 courses in each curriculum (range 0 - 14). Curricula also contained 25 additional competencies not part of the IMIA recommendations, 15 of which were found only within the curriculum of a single institution. Discussion There is significant variability in coverage of IMIA-recommended competencies across MSc HI curricula evaluated, with observed duplication of competency coverage within each curriculum. The additional competencies uncovered that were not part of the IMIA-recommendations were not universally shared across institutions. Conclusion The IMIA education recommendations provide a relevant, comprehensive reference guide for developing and improving health informatics degree programs within LMIC settings. Variability in competency coverage needs to be addressed for institutions within similar educational and labor regions.