| Sept. 13, 2004
Marquette physician
attends prestigious Medical Informatics course
Only one of 30 medical professionals selected nationwide
Dr.
David Luoma, a Marquette General family practice physician who
serves as Chief Executive Officer of the
Upper Peninsula
Health Education Corporation (UPHEC), is one of
a few select physicians from across the country to complete an
Informatics Fellowship survey course offered through the National
Library of Medicine.
Dr.
David Luoma
The federally funded program invited just 30 medical professionals — the
list included physicians, medical librarians, health administrations and junior
medical faculty members — to the 10-day Medical Informatics fellowship
in Woods Hole, Mass.
The course was designed to familiarize medical professionals on the application
of computer technologies and information science in medicine and health sciences.
Through lectures taught by nationally known faculty, coupled with hands-on
computer exercises, participants were introduced to the conceptual and technical
components of biomedical informatics.
Dr. Luoma was the lone Michigan representative to participate in the fellowship,
sponsored by the National Institute of Health.
The unique educational environment at the Marine Biological Laboratory and
the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution featured campus-like buildings full
of lecture halls, libraries, labs and computer stations for intense, dawn-to-dusk,
hands-on training.
“The goal was to help professionals make a difference in their own communities.
We were provided a wealth of information and reference materials to utilize in
our own settings,” said Dr. Luoma, who recently earned a master’s
degree in Medical Management from Tulane University.
“We learned what the National Library
of Medicine has to offer and what
is currently happening in medical informatics, its future, funding possibilities
and upcoming projects.”
During the sessions, participants were schooled on web page set up and design,
effective teaching methods, and researching and creating databases.
“There was a broad range of content. The people they select for this are
ones best positioned to act on it,” Dr. Luoma said. “Personally,
it was very exciting for me. Marquette General is very committed to information
technology, Internet-based applications and the expansion of Telehealth technology.
It’s important that there is knowledgable input from medical staff leadership
for the ongoing development and implementation of projects.”
Since attending the fellowship, Dr. Luoma has put time into improving his knowledge
of searchable reference materials and databases.
“I went into this with ideas,” he said. “Because of this program,
I’m better able to understand future applications, their costs and potential
barriers and make some of these ideas into real projects.”
The National Library of Medicine provided full scholarship support for the
course and expenses.
Dr. Luoma is also the Community Assistant Dean of the U.P. campus of the
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. UPHEC administers the
Upper Peninsula
campus and Family Practice Residency in partnership with Marquette General
Health System and MSU. The U.P. campus is one of six community medical school
campuses across the state and the only campus providing a rural medical school
setting.
A Calumet native, Dr. Luoma is board certified in family practice and geriatrics.
He earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School
in Ann Arbor, completed a residency in family practice at Midland (Mich.)
Hospital Center and a fellowship at Michigan State University. He is certified
by the
American College of Physician Executives.
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