Twenty Five Years of Medical Informatics Education at Heidelberg/Heilbronn: Discussion of a Specialized Curriculum for Medical Informatics.

The specialized university curriculum for medical informatics (MI) at the University of Heidelberg/School of Technology Heilbronn is one of the oldest educational approaches in the field of medical informatics, and has been successful for 25 years with about 1,000 graduates (Diplom-lnformatikerin der Medizin or Diplomlnformatiker der Medizin). It belongs to the category of dedicated master's programs for medical informatics and is based on the concept of medical informatics as a medical discipline in its own right. The curriculum is oriented towards the total spectrum of medical informatics ranging from health care economics, biosignal and medical image processing, medical documentation, to information and knowledge processing in medicine. It is a 4.5-year program with strong emphasis on the methodological foundations of medical informatics and on practical education in a number of specific laboratories. Thirty-five students are admitted each semester, and in total about 440 students are enrolled. The faculty consists of 17 full-time members and about 25 parttime lecturers.We report on characteristics, structure and contents of the new 5th version of the curriculum and discuss the features of a specialized curriculum for medical informatics with respect to the challenges for medical informatics in the 21st century.