Newbie FHIR Resource application questions and Certification for my case?

FHIR newbie here. I’ve been reading the docs for a couple of days and feel I have a fair understanding of the Resources and their application (in addition to other topics: API, server, …).

My company’s app will be collecting event inputs from users. E.g. I took 4 units of regular insulin SQ this morning. Clearly the MedicationAdministration and MedicationStatement Resources apply here.

Users will input many aspects of their daily lives, from exercise, dietary intake, social activities to environmental exposures.

In the insulin example above the FHIR Resource(s) to apply is clear and straightforward. However I’m not convinced we should apply EHR FHIR Resource standards to users’ daily exercise routines, dietary logs and such as it feels a little forced. On the other hand, if it is appropriate, it seems these types of events (in the one line paragraph immediately preceding this one) fall under the Observation Resource (perhaps through Extensions and Profiles as needed)? A detailed answer is not expected as I can research final answers in the docs.

Lastly, I see and am interested in the FHIR Certification. Based on my questions above and if (as it seems) I’ll be the “FHIR Engineer” at my company long term, is it highly recommended that I get the Certification so that we can effectively comply with FHIR Resource and API standards or is the Certification program not enough for a newbie to become proficient enough (i.e. will we still be much better off hiring a consultancy to help with full compliance)? (As some background, I was a RN for 15 years and a full stack web/app dev for the last 20 years. So I know medicalese and software dev well enough to understand both sides of the FHIR coin.)

Thanks for read this far … :wink:

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The more I read the more I think I’m finding my own answers.

The short answer to the first question is: yes, your use case is appropriate.

And the short answer to the 2nd question is: go read more in the Certification and Education sections and the answer will become self-evident.

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