In the evolving landscape of healthcare, HI education plays a critical role in improving service delivery and patient care. By equipping professionals with skills in data management, digital technologies, and clinical decision support, HI education supports safer, more efficient, and evidence-based healthcare systems. The findings of this study reaffirm the growing importance of structured and internationally aligned undergraduate HI programmes in Saudi Arabia.
One of the most notable findings from this study is the strong stakeholder support for integrating industrial internships into HI undergraduate education. Nearly 90% of participants recommended including internships, with a preference for a six-month duration. This aligns with prior research in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which recommended incorporating industry-based learning to strengthen the practical capabilities and employability of HI graduates [1]. Similarly, findings from international contexts, such as the United States and Australia, have emphasised the importance of applied learning, leadership development, and multidisciplinary collaboration within HI programmes [17, 18].
The curriculum analysis conducted across five Saudi universities—King Faisal, Hail, Jazan, Qassim, and Saudi Electronic University demonstrated that computer, data, and information science, along with health sciences and services, are the most prominent domains. While this reflects a strong interdisciplinary foundation, the analysis also showed that BMHI core principles and specialisation topics are comparatively underrepresented. Nonetheless, the findings suggest a general alignment with the IMIA recommendations, particularly in terms of core informatics and healthcare content, consistent with studies conducted in other Arab countries such as Egypt and the UAE [19].
The comparison between IMIA’s recommended domain distributions and stakeholder preferences revealed further insights. Stakeholders prioritised core principles (22%) and social and behavioural sciences (16%) more than IMIA’s benchmarks (15% and 10%, respectively), indicating a strong emphasis on foundational and human-centred competencies. Conversely, health sciences and services and computer and data sciences received lower allocations than IMIA suggests, which may reflect a local preference for applied informatics and cross-functional skills rather than deep clinical or technical specialisation. Within internship settings, stakeholders gave greater importance to computer and data sciences (23%), management (18%), and behavioural sciences (21%), while core principles and specialisation were deemed less essential—likely due to the expectation that theoretical foundations are addressed earlier in the programme.
These findings align with global trends advocating for greater workplace readiness in HI education. For example, studies from Canada and the UK have reported that employers increasingly value graduates with strong leadership, interdisciplinary communication, and practical informatics competencies [20, 21]. Certificate programmes in North America and Europe have also begun to emphasise clinical informatics, digital health systems, and cybersecurity, further validating the need for practice-oriented curricula [22]. While the East African study revealed substantial variability in coverage of IMIA-recommended competencies across MSc programmes, with only 45% of competencies covered by all institutions [23], our study of Saudi undergraduate HI curricula demonstrated broader alignment, particularly in core principles, health sciences, and computer and data sciences. Unlike the duplication and inconsistency observed in East Africa, the Saudi programmes displayed a more structured approach, though stakeholder input indicated the need for greater emphasis on practical training and interdisciplinary skills to better meet local workforce demands.
Our findings complement recent global analyses of Health Informatics Education (HIE), including a topic-modeling study of 575 articles (2014–2023) that identified Clinical Informatics Education, Mobile Application, and Consumer Health Informatics as dominant themes [24]. While our analysis found strong alignment with foundational clinical and data science principles, emerging areas such as mobile health and consumer informatics were underrepresented in Saudi curricula. The global emphasis on practical and competency-based education also reinforces our recommendation to integrate internships and applied informatics training. Furthermore, the variation in topic focus across institutions internationally echoes the curriculum disparities observed among Saudi universities in our study, reinforcing the call for more standardised educational frameworks aligned with international competencies.
Based on these findings, several recommendations are proposed. First, Saudi universities should consider reinforcing practical training through more structured and extended internship programmes. Second, the integration of leadership and administrative competencies, particularly through management science content, should be strengthened. Third, increased focus on social and behavioural sciences could enhance graduates’ ability to work in interdisciplinary teams and support patient-centred care. Finally, universities should continue aligning their programmes with international frameworks such as IMIA’s, while also adapting to local workforce demands and healthcare system priorities. These findings contribute to a growing international conversation on the future of HI education and highlight Saudi Arabia’s active role in developing a digitally capable healthcare workforce.
Limitations
This study is subject to several limitations. The use of purposive sampling, while appropriate for targeting participants with specific expertise, constitutes a non-probability method and limits the representativeness of the sample. As such, the findings may not be generalisable to all HI professionals or academic stakeholders in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, the study experienced a relatively low response rate, with only 127 out of 280 invited participants completing the questionnaire. This introduces the potential for non-response bias, as those who chose to participate may differ systematically from those who did not. In addition, the sample exhibited gender imbalance, with a higher proportion of male respondents, which could influence the interpretation of stakeholder perspectives. Although reliability of the questionnaire was supported by a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.87, indicating strong internal consistency, further psychometric validation was beyond the scope of this study. Finally, due to the exploratory nature of the research and limitations in sample size, inferential statistical adjustments for potential confounding variables were not applied. These limitations should be considered when interpreting the findings. Future research may benefit from employing probability sampling methods, increasing response rates, and applying more comprehensive statistical modelling to enhance generalisability and analytical precision.
Implications and recommendations for future research
The findings of this study offer several implications for both academic institutions and healthcare policymakers seeking to advance HI education in Saudi Arabia and comparable settings. The evidence indicates partial but meaningful alignment between Saudi undergraduate HI curricula and the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) recommendations, particularly in core technical and clinical domains. However, observed discrepancies between stakeholder expectations and current curriculum content suggest that further efforts are needed to bridge academic frameworks with evolving industry demands. One key implication is the need to continuously evaluate and revise national HI curricula to ensure they remain responsive to both international standards and local workforce needs. Stakeholders expressed a strong preference for enhancing internship opportunities and emphasised domains such as behavioural sciences, applied informatics, and management—areas that are not always prioritised in traditional academic frameworks. These insights should guide future curriculum reforms and accreditation criteria for HI programmes across Saudi universities.
Additionally, the study highlights the value of stakeholder engagement in curriculum development. By systematically gathering the views of professionals in clinical, academic, and technical roles, universities can better ensure that graduates are equipped with the interdisciplinary skills needed in modern healthcare environments. This stakeholder-informed approach could serve as a model for future curriculum benchmarking exercises in other countries aiming to align local programmes with international benchmarks.
Future research could expand upon this study by including a broader and more representative sample using probability-based methods to validate and generalise findings. Further comparative analyses involving undergraduate HI programmes in other Gulf and Middle Eastern countries would also provide a more comprehensive regional perspective. In addition, qualitative studies exploring the lived experiences of students and faculty members could offer deeper insight into the implementation and perceived effectiveness of current curricula. Longitudinal research that tracks graduate outcomes such as employment, career progression, and professional certification would provide strong evidence on the real-world impact of curriculum design. Moreover, future investigations could examine the integration of emerging topics such as artificial intelligence in healthcare, cybersecurity, and digital health ethics, which are becoming increasingly relevant to global HI education.
By building upon the current findings, future research can contribute to the continued advancement of HI education and the preparation of a skilled, adaptive workforce that is capable of supporting healthcare transformation in Saudi Arabia and beyond.
link