The twenty components that comprise the Health IT Workforce Curriculum were developed through a collaborative agreement between five Curriculum Development Centers representing Duke University, Oregon Health & Science University, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, their regional Community Colleges and the Office of the National Coordinator.

The intent of the ONC and the Curriculum Development Centers was to provide core curriculum content in a variety of formats so that educational institutions could then customize the materials across a broad spectrum of delivery methods (in class, hybrid, online) and/or integrate some or all of these Component elements into their existing programs.

Each Component includes a Blueprint and an Instructor Manual. The Blueprint provides a high level overview of the Component objectives and outlines the Units that comprise the Component. The number of units in each Component will vary depending on the topic and objectives.

The Instructor Manual for each Component further details the objectives of each Unit and also includes recommended references, readings and other resources. Copyright materials are referenced; however, it is the responsibility of the end-user to secure use rights and/or purchase resources for use in conjunction with the curriculum.

Each unit includes the following elements:

  • Lecture (flash video, MP3 audio, audio transcripts, slides in ppt and pdf formats)
  • Self-Assessment and Expected Outcomes
  • Discussion Questions/Activities/Exercises and Expected Outcomes
  • Optional Materials may include videos, links, tutorials, diagrams/charts, etc.

The following programs will be necessary to view all of the materials:

  • Flash Player (i.e. Adobe Flash Player)
  • Note: Flash video format is NOT currently compatible with iPhone, iPod, or iPad
  • MP3 Player (i.e. iTunes, Windows Media Player)
  • Microsoft Office Suite - Word, Excel, PowerPoint
  • Zip Extraction Program (i.e. 7Zip, WinZip)
  • Modern Web Brower Access (i.e. Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera)

Due to the various online learning management systems in use across the country, it was determined that the curriculum elements would provide a foundation for educational institutions who chose to adapt the core materials to their respective Learning Management Systems (LMS) - not as an 'out of the box' package for direct upload to an LMS; however, materials were formatted to be generally LMS compatible and to be easily customized for online delivery, if desired.

The curriculum materials were developed to comply with Section 504 accessibility requirements. Many institutions have been able to utilize a good portion of the materials without revisions. Others have successfully adapted the curriculum materials to adhere to stricter compliance requirements.