Curriculum

Curriculum

The MSMBI will be a 12-credit curriculum that fulfills the biomedical informatics competencies as established by the American Medical Informatics Association and accepted by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Programs (CAHIIM). Appendix D demonstrates how the curriculum maps to the CAHIIM competencies.

MSBMI and MCI students would share a core of 4 courses (BMIN 5010, 5020, 5030, and 5110). Two additional core courses are designed for MSBMI students; BMIN 5130: Quantitative Research Methods and BMIN 6010: Seminar in Advanced Topics in Biomedical Informatics. Students will take 3 concentration-specific courses and one elective, and will be awarded 2 thesis credits  upon successful defense of their thesis.

Program Concentrations

Students in the MSBMI will declare in one of three available concentrations: Clinical Science Informatics (CSI), Translational Bioinformatics (TBI), and Health Artificial Intelligence (HAI). The three concentrations differ in their course curriculum and in the domain focus of the Master’s Thesis. Students will seek a thesis mentor with primary expertise in the declared concentration.

The table outlines the course requirements in each of the three concentrations (MCI course requirements are also included, for comparison). Numbers indicate course units.

Course Requirements in Three MSBMI Concentrations Compared to MCI Program

Thesis

The thesis is the central research requirement for the degree. Planning for the thesis will begin early in the first semester of study. Students are required to engage in a research project of their own design under the supervision of their primary mentor. The primary mentor will help the student identify a feasible research question for the thesis. The thesis should consolidate students’ knowledge of the principles and practice of biomedical informatics reserach. The thesis topic will be in the area of curricular concentration and address the CAHIIM competencies.

Trainees are required to complete a thesis that involves designing a research project, writing a formal research proposal, performing the study described in it, anaylizing the data collected, summarizing the results in a publishable manuscript(s), and presenting and defending the tesis at a public seminar. 

The thesis provides hands-on experience in formulating one or more research questions; searching the medical literature; translating research question(s) into an appropriate research design; assessing study feasibility; writing a detailed study protocol; designing data collection instruments; conducting the research, performing data analysis; and preparing a manuscript for publication.

The thesis is required to be in the form of a publishable manuscript for submission to an indexed, peer-reviewed journal. There will be opportunities for students to present their work at the annual Informatics Day event, conducted by the PSOM Institute for Biomedical Informatics (IBI), as well as at national meetings, contingent on funding.

Sample Study Plans

Clinical Sciences Informatics concentration full-time program (two years to completion):