The Study Of Military Med-Informatics’ Discipline Construction

After a long and vigorous material and energy age, mankind is entering the colorful information age. This is the case in all fields, such as social economy, national defense and military, and science and technology. Military medicine is undergoing a process of transition first-aid and treatment of field wound, to rescue and recovery of soldier fitness, and to the maintenance and enhancement of combat forces effectiveness. Military medicine must restructure itself by constructing and developing new knowledge, for disciplines are units of knowledge, therefore military medicine must restructure its disciplinary system into an information age one.The dissertation is aimed to study the disciplinary construction of military med-informatics theoretically. We adopt methodologies of criticism, speculative analysis, positivism and interpretivism; use methods of literature survey, induction, interpretation, comparison, interviews; start with background, abnormal phenomenon and deep-seated reasons of “science informationization”, and end at disciplinary construction of “military med-informatics”. Though this, we complete the research procedure from recognizing and raising questions, analyzing and studying the problem, to solving and reflection the problems. We basically achieve the intended research goals.The main results and conclusions obtained are as follows:First, we systematically review the rising trend of IT and information science, point out that science is experiencing a process of “informationization”, then we propose five strategic issues of military medicine transformation in information age, and present an approach to research the problems of “military medicine informationization”.Second, based on concepts of “unified information” and “unified information science”, we use ontology, epistemology, methodology, axiology as four structural elements and their coevolution principles, build up four theory models, namely: “science form”, “science transformation”, “information science form” and “scientific information science transformation”. We criticize the classic disciplines determination theory and propose a new disciplines determination theory under “information science form”, namely: relative and systematic researching object; multiple researching method; multi-direction and nonlinear knowledge system. Furthermore, we introduce three concepts from software engineering to assist in connotation of the new discipline, namely: problem domain, answer domain, action scope. We also discuss the principles and mechanisms of mutual transformation between the discipline, technology and field.At last,we point out that there are three kinds of motive power of “military medicine informationization”: Warfare military needs traction, military medicine adaptive internal driving force, external driving and support force of “information science form”; and the result of “military medicine informationization” is the emergence of military med-information technologies, military med-information research fields and military med-informatics disciplines which are derived from med-information technologies and military med-information science research fields. We scope the new discipline using problem domain, answer domain, action scope; define it in three ways: substantive one, procedural one and functional one; make clear its representive researching object, content, method, target; analyze its new problems in ontology, epistemology and axiology; presented some suggestions from four aspects: scientific spirit, educational philosophy, social organization and division of labor; build the value chain and value conversion model of military med-informatics and its fractal cellular automata model on the basis of the principle of heter-organization and self-organization, and analyze interactive mechanism between military med-informatics and modern military medicine theory, modern military medicine technology, modern military medicine project. The way an “ought to be” discipline should take is meeting up with the requirement of “ought to be”, and obtaining its realistic character through long-time practice of reform.Military med-informatics is a new discipline concept which establishes itself on theoretical reasoning, so results and conclusions obtained in this paper can only be regarded as primary achievements before they are well tested by practice or an optimal theory is put forward.