The Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital (MGH/BWH) Clinical Informatics Fellowship at Mass General Brigham (MGB) is an ACGME-accredited program designed to train physicians as future leaders in clinical informatics. Fellows acquire the knowledge and practice the skills to lead health information technology strategy and implementation projects, advance the field’s knowledge base, and train the next generation. Fellows are actively engaged in didactics, scholarly activity, and the rich and innovative information technology activities at Mass General Brigham.
Our program offers three fellowship tracks: a full two-year track that is open to physicians in any medical specialty, an integrated training experience (ITE) for non-pathology fellows wanting to combine a research year from another fellowship with their informatics training, and a combined fellowship track, which is open to pathology-trained physicians only. For more information, please see the Curriculum and How to Apply sections below.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital are teaching affiliates of Harvard Medical School with a rich tradition of health information technology innovation, including leading the development and evaluation of computerized physician order entry, clinical decision support, digital workflows and electronic medication administration and reconciliation. Fellows will have the opportunity to engage in information systems and clinical informatics efforts across the Mass General Brigham system.
The Pathology Informatics Fellowship program began in 2008, originating in the Department of Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital under Dr. John Gilbertson, and was accredited by the ACGME as a Clinical Informatics Fellowship program in 2015. The Clinical Informatics and Innovation Fellowship program was created in 2015 by Dr. Adam Landman at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The two programs merged in 2020-2021 to create the combined MGH/BWH Clinical Informatics Fellowship. In total, we now have over 25 fellows who have gone on to become successful leaders in their respective fields.
The MGH/BWH Clinical Informatics Fellowship Program at Mass General Brigham is a two-year program that offers three different tracks: a full two-year track that is open to physicians in any medical specialty, an integrated training experience (ITE) for non-pathology fellows wanting to combine a research year from another fellowship with their informatics training, and a combined fellowship track, which is open to pathology-trained physicians only. Please note that the tracks have separate application processes and deadlines (see the How to Apply section for more details).
All three tracks share four basic components: didactic education, informatics practicum, innovative scholarly projects and clinical care. Fellows acquire the knowledge and skills to begin successful careers dedicated to analyzing, designing, implementing, optimizing, and evaluating information and communication systems that enhance individual and population health outcomes, improve health care delivery, and strengthen the clinician-patient relationship. Projects are configured based on the interests and career goals of the individual fellows. Graduates will be prepared to lead health information technology strategy and implementation projects, advance the field’s knowledge base, and train the next generation. After successfully completing the program, fellows will be eligible to take the Clinical Informatics Board Exam offered by the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) and American Board of Pathology (ABP).
Didactic Education: Participants will obtain fundamental knowledge and understanding of the following core content areas: informatics fundamentals, clinical decision-making and care process improvement, health information systems, and leadership and management of change. Didactic sessions will be provided through various Clinical Informatics lecture series, including from experts at Mass General Brigham.
Informatics Practicum: A significant focus of the fellowship will be working on real clinical information system projects under the supervision of fellowship faculty with the aim of gaining the knowledge and skills to independently lead clinical systems implementation projects.
Innovation Scholarly Project: Fellows will complete an innovative scholarly project such as a systematic review, case report, or original research project. The project should be suitable for publication in the clinical informatics literature.
Clinical Care: Fellows are expected to incorporate some level of part-time medicine practice or exposure during the fellowship to maintain their clinical skills. Variations based on track are described below.
Please note the following unique features of each fellowship track:
The Full 2-year track is open to applicants from all medical specialties. With regard to clinical activities, fellows will have the opportunity to work as attending physicians in their clinical specialty at Mass General Brigham affiliated sites to maintain their clinical skills, use the current clinical information systems, and gain respect of their colleagues. Moonlighting policies will be adhered to as defined by the ACGME.
The Integrated Training Experience (ITE) is a two-year track open to non-pathology fellows who are currently in another fellowship at MGB that includes at least one research year. If accepted into the Clinical Informatics fellowship program, and with approval from the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) and the other certifying board (if relevant), the fellow will be able to combine one research year from the other fellowship with one of the years of a Clinical Informatics fellowship. This pathway is designed for fellows who are interested in applying informatics to their area of medical specialty.
The Combined Fellowship track is a two-year program in which the clinical informatics fellowship is combined with another one-year fellowship. This track is currently only open to pathology trainees. Concurrent training with Clinical Informatics is allowed by the American Board of Pathology (ABP) and the ACGME, and a fellow successfully completing this track would qualify for dual certification in clinical informatics and another ACGME-accredited pathology subspecialty with only two years of training rather than three years. The Clinical Informatics fellowship may also be combined with a non-ACGME accredited fellowship. Due to the accelerated nature of the Combined Fellowship track, completion of a Master’s degree is not an option.
This pathway is designed for pathologists who are interested in applying informatics to a clinical laboratory or pathology specialty, especially if the candidate has done substantial training in informatics prior to or during residency. The second fellowship can be completed before or after the full year of informatics and must be done at MGB. There is a close collaboration between the fellowships so that the fellows leave the program ready to apply both informatics and clinical leadership in a subspecialty laboratory or diagnostic group. Please note that a letter signed by program directors of both fellowships and approval by the ABP must be completed before the start of either fellowship.
All fellowship candidates must be ABMS board certified or board eligible before the fellowship start date. This generally means that fellows will have completed a residency in the United States or Canada. If the candidate is a graduate of an international medical school, they must have a valid ECFMG certificate, and international candidates must have a visa (we sponsor both J1 and H1B visas). The candidate must also be eligible for employment in Massachusetts and obtain a Massachusetts medical license prior to starting the fellowship.
The MGH/BWH Clinical Informatics Fellowship Program is sponsored by the Department of Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital and is open to Physicians in all medical specialties. We are accredited by the ACGME for a total of 6 positions and our program offers three different tracks (for more details see the Curriculum section above). Please note that the tracks have different application processes and deadlines, as outlined below.
We are currently accepting applications for positions starting on July 1, 2025. This track is open to physicians in all medical specialties.
Application Deadline: September 15, 2024
Interviews: End of October 2024 (all interviews will be virtual this year.)
Notifications: December 2024 (We will be participating in the AMIA-sponsored Clinical Informatics National Match Day in December 2024.)
Applicants interested in the full 2-year track should apply through ERAS:
Program Name: Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital Program
Specialty: Clinical Informatics (Pathology)
ACGME ID: 3022430001
Note: Even though our clinical informatics program is listed under pathology in ERAS, we accept applicants from all primary medical specialties.
We are currently accepting applications for positions starting on July 1, 2025. This track is open to non-pathology fellows currently in a fellowship program that includes a research year, who want to complete a two-year clinical informatics fellowship that combines a research year with their informatics training.
Application Deadline: September 15, 2024
Interviews: End of October 2024 (All interviews will be virtual this year.)
Notifications: December 2024 (We will be participating in the AMIA-sponsored Clinical Informatics National Match Day in December 2024.)
Applicants interested in the full 2-year track should apply through ERAS:
Note: Even though our clinical informatics program is listed under pathology in ERAS, we accept applicants from all primary medical specialties.
Applicants applying for the combined fellowship track should apply to both fellowship programs at MBG concurrently using one application form and should clearly indicate their interest in combining one year of clinical informatics with the other fellowship. We are currently accepting applications for the full year of clinical informatics being completed from July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027 or July 1, 2027 – June 30, 2028. Note: The combined year may be completed either before or after the full year of informatics.
Application Deadline: August 1, 2024
Interviews: August/early September 2024 (All interviews will be virtual this year.)
Notifications: September 2024
Applicants interested in the Combined Fellowship program should email the following to Jaclyn Brogna (jbrogna@partners.org):
Program Director
Veronica E. Klepeis, MD, PhD
Clinical Informatics Fellowship Program
Massachusetts General Hospital
55 Fruit Street, WRN 501c
Boston, MA 02114
617-726-0711
vklepeis@mgh.harvard.edu
Graduate Medical Education Program Manager
Julie E. Beckerdite
617-726-0367
jbeckerdite@bwh.harvard.edu
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