Patton, started his life and career in Michigan. Born and raised in Detroit, he received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Michigan before becoming the first graduate of their Master of Health Informatics program. From there, Dr. Patton began a career in education informatics and learning technologies in support of health professions education.

Creating a team to support the education mission at the University of Michigan Medical School, Dr. Patton served as the bridge between undergraduate medical education and information technology to ensure that the needs of the ever-evolving curriculum were met. Being involved with the AMA, AAMC and MedBiquitous at the national level on projects primarily related to lifelong learning and competency-based education, Dr. Patton has focused his career on the impact of the learner on the healthcare system, and its reciprocal effects, towards the vision of a learning healthcare system. As the Director of MedBiquitous after its transition to the AAMC, Dr. Patton continues his commitment to the development of digital credentials and lifelong learning and employment records for clinicians; capabilities for the exchange of curriculum structure and content between the health professions; and improved access to data locally and nationally for continuous quality improvement and other analytics that will empower learners, educators and administrators.