Medical Students' Training in EHRs Inadequate

Medical school students are using electronic health records at a higher rate than practicing physicians, but education is lacking. Without guidelines, physicians face significant roadblocks to adoption, according to two companion studies published in Teaching and Learning in Medicine.

In the first study, researchers from the Alliance for Clinical Education found that 64 percent of the medical school programs allowed students to use their EHRs, but only two thirds of those allowed the students to write notes in them. They were further stymied by the mechanics involved in the use of EHRs.

"Previously, students were just able to pick up a physical patient chart. Now they need permission to use hospital computers and passwords to access the EHR. There also are concerns surrounding Medicare rules about physicians using trainees' findings in the [EHR],"  lead author Maya Hammoud, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University Michigan Medical School said in a statement...