Program Overview

Introduction to the MS in Health Data Science - Online Program

Dartmouth's online MS in Health Data Science degree provides rigorous training in the theory and application of data science methodology to produce innovators and thought leaders able to tackle our most pressing challenges within the health and biomedical fields.

Program Overview

The online Master of Science degree in Health Data Science coursework develops the foundation needed to immediately contribute as a health data scientist. Coursework includes training in the theory, methods, and applications of data science with the health and biomedical sciences and is developed with the rigor of an Ivy League education.

Curriculum

The program concludes with a capstone project, where students apply the skills gained over the coursework to develop and tackle a real-world health data science problem. The capstone also provides training in core critical skills needed for professional success, such as scientific writing, presentation skills, and the ability to translate data science findings to non-data science stakeholders.

Year at a Glance

• The academic year is divided into four terms (fall, winter, spring, summer), each with 10 weeks of coursework.
• Students take two sequential, 5-week courses per term in the first six terms.
• The online program includes an additional 3-week intensive seminar each year in late November through mid-December.
• Students complete a 10-week capstone project in their final term.
• All classes include weekly asynchronous activities, including videos, readings, small projects, lab-based activities, and weekly assignments.
• Each week includes one live (synchronous) 90-minute class meeting led by the course director.
• Students will dedicate approximately 12-15 hours per week to coursework and class time.
• Students have access to teaching assistants and social media channels to connect with other students during the week.
• The online program begins in the fall, and students graduate 21 months later in the spring.

Live Session Class Times

• Required synchronous Zoom calls with course faculty will occur weekly throughout the program.
• Live sessions take place on Thursdays from 4:00 - 5:30 PM ET.
• All program components (e.g., Zoom calls, assignment due dates) operate on Eastern Time.

Academic Calendar

To see the days and times that courses are offered by term for the MS in Health Data Science - Online program, please refer to the academic calendar.

Course Details

Fall Term

• HSE 711: Foundations in Data Science | 0.75 Units
  • Foundations of Data Science will provide students with a comprehensive introduction into data visualization, wrangling, and analytics in the R programming language.
• HSE 712: Foundations of Biostatistics | 0.75 Units
  • This course will cover foundational topics for biostatistics, including probability, random variables and probability distributions, sampling distributions, the central limit theorem, p-values and confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, parametric and non-parametric test statistics, and categorical data analyses.

Winterim Intensive Seminar

• HSE 713: Ethics in Health Data Science | 0.40 Units
  • This short course will review core ethical concerns the modern health data scientist must face, including bias in data acquisition, model training and development, and application.

Winter Term

• HSE 721: Data Wrangling | 0.75 Units
  • Data wrangling is the process of mapping and transforming data into new formats for the increased ease and efficiency of downstream analysis.
• HSE 722: Data Visualization | 0.75 Units
  • Data visualization is a critical and necessary step of data analysis.
• HSE 723: Capstone Preparation | 0.05 Units
  • This series of meetings builds the foundational skills needed for project management and execution in health data science.

Spring Term

• HSE 731: Foundations of Regression for Health Data Science | 0.75 Units
  • The two courses in the regression for health data science series cover the theory and applications of regression-based statistical modeling as practiced within the health data sciences.
• HSE 732: Advanced Regression for Health Data Science | 0.75 Units
  • This second course on regression will cover the theory and application of time-to-event modeling, hierarchical models for clustered and longitudinal data, generalized linear mixed models, and applications of penalized (regularized) regression.
• HSE 733: Capstone Preparation | 0.05 Units
  • This series of meetings builds the foundational skills needed for project management and execution in health data science.

Summer Term

• HSE 741: Research Design for Health Data Science | 0.75 Units
  • This course will cover key study designs used within health data science.
• HSE 742: Systems Thinking for Health Data Science | 0.75 Units
  • In this course, students will learn how to formulate a health data science research project and practice their scientific communication skills.
• HSE 743: Capstone Preparation | 0.05 Units
  • This series of meetings builds the foundational skills needed for project management and execution in health data science.

Fall Term (Year 2)

• HSE 751: Statistical Learning for Big Data | 0.75 Units
  • The course will present an overview of many of the approaches used for big data, focusing on analytical methods and algorithms tailored to the health data sciences.
• HSE 752: Programming for Health Data Sciences | 0.75 Units
  • This course covers the essential concepts of programming needed for health data sciences.

Winter Symposium (Year 2)

• HSE 753: Genomic Data Science | 0.40 Units
  • The sequencing of the complete genomes of many organisms has transformed biology into an information science.

Winter Term (Year 2)

• HSE 761: Foundations of Machine Learning | 0.75 Units
  • This course provides a comprehensive introduction to machine learning methods and techniques based on practical application.
• HSE 762: Applied AI | 0.75 Units
  • This course provides a working foundation of artificial intelligence models, with a major focus on generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs).
• HSE 763: Capstone Preparation | 0.05 Units
  • This series of meetings builds the foundational skills needed for project management and execution in health data science.

Spring Term (Year 2)

• HSE 771: Capstone | 2.0 Units
  • In the capstone, students participate in an intensive, self-driven project within health data science.