Assessing the Willingness of School Students to Choose the Field of Health Information Technology

Mahdie  ShojaeiBaghini; Sedighe ShojaeiBaghini

doi:10.18502/ahit.v2i2.7990

Mahdie ShojaeiBaghini Ph.D. in Health Information Management, Medical Informatics Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
Sedighe ShojaeiBaghini District Education, Education Department of Kerman Province, Kerman, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ahit.v2i2.7990

Keywords: Health Information Technology; Students; High School; Willingness; Assessment

Abstract

Aim: The study aimed to, first, provide the students with some information about the field of Health Information Technology (HIT) and its professional status and, second, to investigate the university applicants' willingness to choose this field.

Method: The present study is a quasi-experimental study on two groups of subjects, i.e. a control group and a test group. This study was conducted on the high school students in twelfth grade. The sample size in each group contained 116 subjects, who were randomly selected and placed in one of the groups. The data collection tool in this study was a questionnaire prepared based on the previous literature. SPSS version 26, descriptive and analytical statistics were used to analyze the data.

Results: The participants' familiarity with the field of health information technology was 11%, 5.7% of whom had obtained only a little information about the field through mass media and social networks. Comparing the willingness of the two groups of participants to choose the field of information technology, showed a statistically significant difference, with 99% probability.

Conclusion: The importance of informed decision-making and interest regarding the university major has been shown because it is very effective in teaching specialized human resources, especially in health care education. In this regard, the education and familiarity of high school students with academic fields can be useful. It is necessary to introduce the field of HIT and the scientific and practical capabilities of its graduates to the community.