Health Informatics, MS

The Master of Science in Health Informatics program requires the successful completion of 12 courses. Students must complete five core courses and seven additional courses corresponding to a chosen area of specialization. Specializations allow students to tailor their studies to specific career goals. There are three specializations: Clinical Informatics, Health Administration Informatics, and Health Technology Informatics.

Current students should refer to curriculum requirements in place at time of entry into the program.

Curriculum

Core Courses (5 units)

Course Title
MHI 401-DLAmerican Health Care System
MHI 403-DLFundamentals of Health Informatics
MHI 407-DLLegal, Ethical, and Social Issues
MSHA 480-DLHealth Analytics Leadership
MHI 498-DLCapstone Project
or MHI 590-0 Thesis Research

Specialization (7 units)

Students must complete seven additional courses corresponding to a chosen area of specialization. Specializations allow students to tailor their studies to specific career goals. There are three specializations: Clinical InformaticsHealth Administration Informatics, and Health Technology Informatics.

About the Final Project 

As a culminating experience, students will put into practice the knowledge and skills they have learned during their coursework through a Capstone Project. Students will have the opportunity to develop and implement a Health Informatics project with an industry or university partner or in their workplace. Alternatively, students can develop a culminating, two-part project. This alternative capstone project will leverage health informatics to provide an innovative, consultative response to a need or problem arising as part of a real-world case study. The project will challenge each student to conduct and integrate comprehensive research and to apply knowledge, skills, and competencies built through coursework they have completed in the MHI program.

In addition to each student’s individual research and project development, the course emphasizes collaboration with fellow students by using the Canvas discussion board to crowdsource strategies and approaches for their Capstone Project. Each student will work with the instructor to establish an “Advisory Committee” for their project which, ideally, will be comprised of a “Knowledge Expert” from the organization they are working with and a faculty advisor from the Northwestern University Health Informatics program.

Course Title
Choose one
Capstone Project
Thesis Research