The Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (DHCRC), Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, and the Australasian Institute for Digital Health (AIDH) are proud to announce that the Clinical Informatics Fellowship (CIF) will move from concept to reality in 2027.
The AIDH’s new Clinical Informatics Fellowship Program will give clinicians working at the intersection of health and digital practice the opportunity to be formally accredited and awarded professional fellowship standing.
The CIF program’s development was initiated in 2022 when the DHCRC identified a critical gap in Australia’s health ecosystem. Unlike other clinical specialties, there was no formal accreditation pathway for clinical informaticians.
To address this gap, the DHCRC led a collaborative project with eHealth Queensland and the University of Queensland, contributing to the foundations and groundwork for the development of the AIDH’s CIF Program, creating a nationally recognised fellowship pathway for clinicians to achieve formal accreditation.
The CIF Program provides the healthcare system with a clear and evidence-based pathway to gain the skills and knowledge to transform care, with a nationally and ultimately internationally recognised fellowship.
DHCRC CEO, Annette Schmiede, said that the project partners came together with a shared focus on creating real‑world impact through workforce and capability uplift.
“This is a strong example of a successful Digital Health CRC project, where the preliminary work and findings have developed into the mature and successful fellowship program that AIDH will lead moving forward,” Ms Schmiede said.
Following the success of the DHCRC-led project, AIDH has now taken stewardship of the CIF Program and has received additional funding from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing to support the launch of the Program.
AIDH CEO, Anja Nikolic, says that the creation of a unique Clinical Informatics Fellowship (CIF) program is vital to the professionalisation of the specialist digital health workforce in Australia.
“A safe and modern healthcare system that meets the quintuple aims relies on a highly skilled clinical informatics workforce that can harmonise clinical workflows, technology, and people,” Ms Nikolic said.
“As we continue to build career pathways in digital health, the CIF is a critical program to produce leaders with specialised expertise that meets future demands and is vital to the professionalisation of the specialist digital health workforce in Australia.”
For the first time, clinical informatics is an acknowledged and recognised profession in Australia, with international credibility and standing.
Through the Fellowship program, AIDH will continue to build and foster a large and diverse workforce of skilled and well-networked clinical informaticians. Fellows will be actively engaged in a community of practice and will maintain their expertise through continued professional development.
An expert Advisory Panel has been convened to synthesise the substantive consultation feedback collected from the community to create a pilot CIF program for 2027 commencement.
