ANN ARBOR, MI – Officials at the University of Michigan announced Thursday that the university will launch a new master of health informatics program.
The program, offered jointly by the School of Information and the School of Public Health, is accepting applications for admission for the inaugural class of the two-year program, which begins in fall 2012.
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It is the only Master of Health Informatics (MHI) program offered by a public university in Michigan, officials said. The program offers distinctive emphases on leadership and consumer health informatics, they added.
Leaders in the health informatics field are needed to develop the next generation of information solutions related to health, and to ensure that the current generation of solutions is used to full advantage, according to the university.
Graduates of the health informatics program who emphasize consumer health will develop solutions that empower consumers to become active participants in the promotion and maintenance of their own health. Mobile and other emerging technologies will play a key role.
"This program will emphasize the game-changing information technologies that will be used by healthcare consumers, which means all members of society, to promote health and wellness in entirely new ways," said Charles Friedman, program director with appointments in both Michigan's School of Information and School of Public Health. "The graduates of this program will be leaders and innovators at the forefront of a revolution."
The program combines the expertise of the School of Public Health's faculty in population health, health policy and health promotion with the School of Information's expertise in human-centered design and the development, implementation and evaluation of cutting-edge information resources, Friedman said. Faculty at both schools are currently engaged in numerous research studies that focus on all aspects of health informatics.
The field is growing quickly. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that health information management and health informatics employment will grow nearly 18 percent by 2016, and predicts a need for more than 6,000 new professionals each year through 2014.
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In fall 2011, University of Michgan began offering an 18-hour graduate certificate in health informatics for students already enrolled in a graduate program there. That program expects to award its first certificates in spring 2012.
The priority deadline for applications to the new master's degree program is Feb. 15, 2012. More information about the health informatics graduate program can be found here.
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