PhD Grant in Health Informatics, Norway

A position as Research Fellow (PhD) on in health informatics is vacant at the Norwegian centre of electronic patient records (NSEP). This grant is one of three PhD positions in COSTT (Coordination support through transparency), a researcher project funded by the VERDIKT program (http://www.verdikt.no) of the Norwegian Research Council (NFR). Two Postdoc positions have also been funded and will be announced. The project is a joint, 4-year effort between Norwegian University of Science and Technology, SONITOR; Aker University Hospital, University of Oslo; Trondheim University Hospital (Operation room of the future); SINTEF and Helse Midt-Norge IT (HEMIT).

The topic of the project is the automatic sampling of sensor and log data from patients and health personnel delivering complex, multidisciplinary, coordination-intensive healthcare, and on the use of these data to improve the coordination of the actors by inferring and visualizing the trajectory of the patient on his way through the ward.

As part of his project, the candidate shall make observations and collect data that represent clinical reality and use these to infer and iteratively validate a model of the clinical process at the ward. Several models of clinical processes have been proposed, but they are mostly prescriptive instead of being descriptive. They are unsuited for capturing what has actually happened in clinical reality. The purpose of the modeling is to build upon it to visualize of what has happened with the patient at the ward. This model must distinguish between the relevant objects that make up this clinical reality, the main features characterizing these objects and the relations between them. Another requirement for the model on which the visualization within COSTT will be based, is that it can be related to the plan that underlies the clinical process.

The PhD-candidate should develop a language by means of which clinical reality can be described. The concept of «patient-trajectory» will play an important role in this language. He or she should have an interest in health workflow coordination, information and process modeling and / or health services research.

The research fellow will be associated to the Norwegian Centre for Electronic health records (NSEP), the multidisciplinary health informatics research community of NTNU. The centre - the largest of its kind in northern Europe - is located in close proximity to the Department of Computer science at NTNU, the University hospital, the Medical technology research centre and SINTEF. The research fellow will conduct her/his research in strong collaboration with the two other PhD candidates (which will have a background in computer science and organizational research) and the rest of the COSTT project team, our partners and other health informatics researchers / projects at the centre.

The period of employment for the Research Fellow is four years, including 25 % devoted to required duties. The position of Research Fellow has the objective of taking organized academic training and the completion of the doctoral degree. The position must commence no later than 3 months after the entry of the position as research fellow. Admission to a doctoral degree programme is a requirement for employment as a Research Fellow. During the period of employment, three years are to be devoted to research training, including a total of 30 credits from NTNU’s PhD courses. PhD courses that will support the candidate in developing the necessary insight and skills will be offered by both the Faculty of medicine and Institute of Computer science. For regulations concerning the PhD-degree at NTNU, please see: www.ntnu.no/research/phd/adm_requirments

We are looking for a PhD candidate with a healthcare background (MD or another health science) with strong interest in workflow coordination and process support in healthcare. Applicants for the PhD grant must hold a master’s degree or equivalent education, and should have a strong academic record. The Department wants to attract outstanding candidates.

NTNU is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants from both EU/EEA and non-EU countries. The university is strongly committed to diversity within its community and welcomes applications from members of ethnic minorities.

Chosen applicants can be invited to undergo an interview. Applicants must be able to communicate fluently in English (oral and writing).

Depending on qualifications and academic background, Research Fellows at the Faculty of Medicine will be remunerated at wage levels 45 to 55 on the Norwegian State salary scale, with gross salary from NOK 353 000 to NOK 420 600 a year, of which 2% is deducted for the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund. A yearly amount for operating costs will be added.

The appointment will be made in accordance with current regulations and supplementary rules with guidelines for employment as Research Fellow appointments at universities and university colleges.

The application with all attachments must be submitted in five copies.

Applications should be submitted to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, MTFS, NO-7489 Trondheim, Norway. Applications should be marked j.no. «DMF 80-08». Deadline for applications: September 15th 2008.