Program Overview

Master of Health Informatics Program Details

The Master of Health Informatics (MHI) program is a professional graduate-level program that focuses on developing skilled professionals to meet the rising healthcare demand for informatics leaders.

Overview

Health Informatics (HI) is a discipline that is rapidly gaining prominence as countries around the world seek to leverage digital technologies to enable care provision and build knowledge at individual and population levels. The term Health Informatics is a broad term referring to a wide scope of digital information technologies in healthcare – it includes eHealth, mHealth, Medical Informatics, Biomedical Informatics, Digital Technologies, Telemedicine, and Nursing or Clinical Informatics.

Admission Requirements

• An appropriate four-year undergraduate degree (e.g., Health Sciences or Social Sciences specialty, Regulated Health Professions in Ontario, Computer Science or Information Science Specialty) or its equivalent, from a recognized university.
• B+ average in the last academic year is required.
• Demonstrated English language proficiency.

Program Structure

The MHI regular stream program is a two-year program condensed into a 16-month time frame. It is a rigorous program and to be successful, you will need to commit to full-time studies to meet the academic demands.

Career Progress

The MHI Program is one of Canada’s only professional graduate-level programs that focuses on developing skilled professionals to meet the rising healthcare demand for informatics leaders. Our graduates are highly sought after and widely employed in both the public and private sectors – taking on positions such as specialists, analysts, managers, directors, and in other leadership roles in areas such as clinical informatics, implementation and project management, business intelligence and analytics, and product management.

Practicum

The practicum is the applied learning component of the regular stream MHI program. From May to August, every MHI student participates in a full-time (600 hour/ 37.5 hours per week) professional practicum placement. Preceptor organizations hosting practicum students are not required to pay stipends, however most placements are paid.

Funding

Professional programs are not eligible for most research-based awards, and students in these programs are not included in the funded cohort. MHI is an OSAP eligible program.

International Students

We typically only take a small number of international students. International applicants that have been accepted in the past have been highly competitive (high grades, excellent reference letters, clear and relevant letter of intent, and applicable work experience).

PhD after MHI

Health informatics at IHPME is also offered as a concentration within the Health Systems Research (HSR) program. Students have progressed to PhD after MHI, however, there is a necessary migration path from the professional (terminal degree) into the research-based degrees.

Program Details

• The MHI program emphasizes knowledge and skills in strategy and policy development; informing high-level decision making; system analysis, assessment, and solution architecture; project management; and the development, implementation, and management of technological applications and change across the health and health care delivery system.
• Certificates and diplomas in Health Informatics are increasingly emerging across Canada and internationally. These programs are not generally based in computer-programming or data analytics, though most incorporate learning from these fields.
• Health Information Management is most often studied in a diploma-level program offered by a community college and is often a requirement for individuals who work with clinical health records or in decision support areas. There is a certification process for Health Information Management Programs, administered by the Canadian Health Information Management Association.