Online Medical Informatics Degree Program

Online Medical Informatics Degree Programs - What Do You Study?

The American Medical Informatics Association describes Medical Informatics as the study of all aspects of understanding and promoting the effective organization, analysis, management and use of information in health care. It is a field that combines medical and social science with computer science and seeks to use the latest technologies and information management tools to help improve the organization of medical information and reduce errors. These tools are vital to 21st century healthcare and are beneficial in areas such as nursing, clinical care, dentistry, pharmacy, public health and biomedical research. Since medical informatics is an emerging field, it is constantly changing, testing and evaluating new and improved systems of information management. While there have been many years of development of information systems to support the infrastructure of medicine, a new generation of systems and tools is also emerging that is aimed at physicians and other health care managers and professionals and seeks to support education, decision making, communication and many other aspects of professional activity. The field also involves a large theoretical component which tries to model how medical information can best be used to enhance healthcare and lead to the best possible outcomes.

Related Online Medical Informatics Degree Programs 

Since Medical Informatics is constantly evolving, most schools offering programs in this area emphasize providing a comprehensive training in all aspects currently associated with the field while also allowing students to specialize in a certain area of their choosing. The field is highly complex and degrees are typically offered at the Bachelor's, Master's and even PhD level. Some schools also offer graduate certificates in the field for those already practicing medicine or working in medical administration who are particularly interested in information systems and advancing or changing their careers. All of these programs try to provide students the knowledge and experience needed to apply their talents to careers in information services organizations within hospitals, health systems, academic environments, and the health systems and equipment industry.

Typical coursework for those seeking degrees in Medical Informatics includes courses in probability, statistics, computer science, experimental design, medical ethics, medical law, healthcare data, application of healthcare information systems, management of healthcare communication, health informatics systems analysis and social and organizational issues in health informatics.

Career Options in Medical Informatics

As technology continues to improve and as the healthcare field begins to integrate more and more technology in its everyday practice the demand for those specializing in Medical Informatics will continue to grow and expand. Job opportunities are available throughout the healthcare industry at facilities such as hospitals and healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, medical software companies, consulting companies, public health organizations, government and non-governmental agencies, insurance companies and in academia. The skills taught through many university programs allow Medical Informatic degree holders to have the opportunity to easily move between these various settings and work with a variety healthcare providers throughout their careers. While there are thousands of jobs titles that fall under the general label of medical informatics most deal with one or more of the following areas:

• electronic medical records
• knowledge-based information and digital libraries
• digital imaging systems
• telemedicine
• clinical decision support
• health policy and decision making
• health information system research
• health information education

For those looking to enter an exciting, challenging and growing field or for those already working in computer systems or medical practice who would like to take on a new challenge, a career in medical informatics is a very appealing and highly in-demand option.