Medical Computational Thinking: Computer Scientific Reasoning in the Medical Curriculum

Abstract

Computational thinking (CT) in medicine means deliberating when to pursue computer-mediated solutions to medical problems and evaluating when such solutions are worth pursuing in order to assist in medical decision making. Teaching computational thinking (CT) at medical school should be aligned with learning objectives, teaching and assessment methods, and overall pedagogical mission of the individual medical school in relation to society. Medical CT as part of the medical curriculum could help educate novices (medical students and physicians in training) in the analysis and design of complex healthcare organizations, which increasingly rely on computer technology. Such teaching should engage novices in information practices where they learn to perceive practices of computer technology as directly involved in the provision of patient care. However, medical CT as a teaching and research field is only beginning to be established in bioinformatics and has not yet made headway into the medical curriculum. Research is needed to answer questions relating to how, when, and why medical students should learn to engage in CT, e.g., to design technology to solve problems in systemic healthcare and individual patient care. In conclusion, the medical curriculum provides a meaningful problem space in which medical computational thinking ought to be developed. We argue not for the introduction of a stand-alone subject of medical CT, but as researchers, teachers, clinicians, or curriculum administrators, we should strive to develop theoretical arguments and empirical cases about how to integrate the demand for medical CT into the medical curriculum of the future.