As we dive deeper into the capstone phase of the program, I want each of you to begin taking greater ownership of the problem you want to solve.
Like I have said, your capstone does not need to be technologically complex, and you do not need to have everything figured out at this stage. What matters is that you can identify a meaningful healthcare or health-system problem and begin thinking about it through an informatics lens.
Do not begin by asking, “What app can I build?” or “What research topic can I study?” Start by asking, “What information problem needs to be solved?” Perhaps information is routinely missing, a workflow is inefficient, patients are lost during a referral process, important clinical information cannot be retrieved, data are difficult to trust, or an existing digital system does not adequately support the people using it. Start with the problem as your premise.
Faculty and mentors will help you refine your thinking, challenge assumptions, narrow your scope, and assess feasibility. We will not design the project for you. The intellectual work of developing the capstone remains yours.
Your first idea does not have to be your final project. In fact, I expect many of your ideas to change as you receive feedback and understand the problem more deeply.
Read the prompt carefully, share your concept, and engage thoughtfully with your colleagues where you can add something useful to the discussion.
I am looking forward to seeing the problems you identify and, even more importantly, how you are beginning to think about them as informaticists.