Events

The Fundamental Theorem of Biomedical Informatics: A Suggestion of What Really Lies at the Core of the Field

Date: November 09, 2003 Time: (All day)
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Event Type: Lecture

With advance apologies for reminding everyone of 9th grade geometry class, this talk proposes that everything we do in informatics relates to a single core theorem: That a person (clinician, researcher, student, administrator) assisted by task-appropriate information technology is better than that same person unassisted. In addition to introducing the theorem and making the case that it is fundamental, I will introduce three corollaries that expand the argument and suggest important components of a future research agenda for informatics, and for the evaluation of biomedical information resources. To the extent that the theorem and its corollaries are valid, they hold the potential to give some unity and sense of shared purpose to a field that otherwise seems to be diversifying so quickly that it is in danger of losing its identity.