Certificate Program

Certificates of Biomedical Informatics
2018-2020 Student Handbook

Program Description and Goals	Admission to the Biomedical Informatics Certificate Programs	Requirements for International Applicants	Application Deadlines
Course of Study for the Biomedical Informatics Certificate Program	Course of Study for the Public Health Informatics Certificate Program	Course of Study for Applied Biomedical Informatics Certificate Program	Course of Study for Health Data Science Certificate Program

Program Description and Goals

SBMI offers various Certificates of Biomedical Informatics designed for self-motivated professionals working in the health care and information technology fields. A certificate requires the student to complete a minimum of 15 semester credit hours.

The certificates provide professionals with an increased understanding of the opportunities and challenges involved in technology integration into healthcare. They will be able to participate in designing, planning, implementing and evaluating new software and hardware solutions at their institutions.

SBMI is experienced in providing education to working professionals. The certificate program is designed to provide quality education to professionals on their schedule as courses can be completed online.

Upon completion of the 15 semester credit hour certificate, students will be awarded a certificate of completion from UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics.

Admission to the Biomedical Informatics Certificate Programs

The admission process to the certificate programs is designed to get the professional working applicant into the program by meeting minimal requirements.

The applicant should present a completed application and official documentation of the following:

A completed certificate application online
$60 application fee
An official transcript with the minimum of a baccalaureate or higher degree
CV/resume
One Letter of reference
See the SBMI Prospective Student Admission Requirements webpage for additional information: https://sbmi.uth.edu/prospective-students/admission-requirements.htm

Requirements for International Applicants:

TOEFL(Test of English as a Foreign Language)/IELTS (International English Language Testing System) score. The official score for the TOEFL test must be submitted directly to the UTHealth Office of the Registrar from the TOEFL test centers using institutional codes 6906; no department code is required. The minimum acceptable score is an 87 on the internet-based test. The official scores for the IELTS Academic test must be submitted directly to the UTHealth Office of the Registrar from the IELTS test centers. The minimum acceptable score is a 7. Testing is at the applicant’s expense.
International applicants who have received a diploma from a university at which English is the language of instruction are not required to submit an English Language exam. If this school is outside of an English-speaking country, evidence that indicates the language of instruction will need to be provided with your application such as a letter from the University on official letterhead. International applicants must submit official transcripts and a course-by-course education evaluation of all transcripts from all universities attended outside the United States. The application forms for such an evaluation may be obtained online from the service providers; Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc., www.ece.org and World Education Services, www.wes.org. Only evaluations from ECE or WES will be accepted. The results of the evaluation must be submitted directly to the UTHealth Office of the Registrar by the agency. The evaluation report is at the applicant’s expense.
Students on an F1 student visa are not eligible to enroll in the Applied Certificate or the Applied Master’s in Biomedical Informatics track programs. F1 sponsorship is available for students in the Certificate in Public Health Informatics, Certificate in Biomedical Informatics, Research Master’s and PhD programs.
The I-20 form, required by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), is prepared by UTHealth and issued to qualified nonimmigrant applicants who have been admitted and who have demonstrated financial ability to support their education. Upon acceptance, the non-immigrant student will be asked to provide financial and visa information so that the I-20 form may be completed. The student must submit the completed form to the American Embassy in his/her country of origin in order to receive a student visa or must otherwise be eligible for F1 status in the U.S. Please contact the UTHealth Office of International Affairs for information (713-500-3176, utoiahouston@uth.tmc.edu).

Application deadlines:

Fall admission - July 1
Spring admission - November 1
Summer admission - March 1

The coursework completed as a Certificate Student is at the graduate level. A transcript showing graduate credits may be obtained from the Registrar’s Office.

This coursework may be transferred into a degree program. No grade lower than a “B” will be accepted to transfer into master’s or doctoral programs.

Course of Study for Biomedical Informatics Certificate Program

The Biomedical Informatics Certificate Program offers the following course of study with a completion of 15 semester credit hours.

The Biomedical Informatics Certificate Program offers two different options. Option 1 is a set of five predetermined courses with an emphasis in Clinical Informatics.

BMI 5300 Introduction to Biomedical Informatics (3 credit hours)
BMI 5313 Foundations of Electronic Health Records and Clinical Information Systems (3 credit hours)
BMI 5314 Technology Assessment in Healthcare (3 credit hours)
BMI 5360 Clinical Decision Support Systems (3 credit hours)
BMI 6340 Health Information Visualization & Visual Analytics (3 credit hours)

BMI 5300 Introduction to Biomedical Informatics must be taken in the first semester. The other four courses can be taken in any order.

Option 2 is BMI 5300, Introduction to Biomedical Informatics and the student’s choice (with advice from a certificate program advisor) of four courses selected from the course concentration listing. This option allows professionals to customize their studies to meet their background and needs.

A maximum of three credit hours of Directed Study can be applied toward the Biomedical Informatics Certificate program.

Course of Study for Joint Certificate in Public Health Informatics

The Public Health Informatics Certificate Program offers the following course of study with a completion of 16 semester credit hours:

BMI 5300 Introduction to Biomedical Informatics (3 credit hours)
BMI 5380 Principles and Foundation of Public Health Informatics (3 credit hours)
PH 2612 Epidemiology I (3 credit hours)
PH 1690 Introduction to Biostatistics in Public Health (4 credit hours)

The fifth course is the student’s choice of one of the following courses (Minimum of 3 credit hours):

BMI 5313 Foundations of Electronic Health Records and Clinical Information Systems (3 credit hours)
BMI 5381 Methods in Public Health Informatics (3 credit hours)
BMI 5382 Synthesis Project of Public Health Informatics (3 credit hours)
PH 1110 Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences in Public Health (3 credit hours)
PH 2110 Public Health Ecology & the Human Environment (3 credit hours)
PH 3715 Management and Policy Concepts in Public Health (3 credit hours)

PH 1690 Introduction to Biostatistics in Public Health, PH 2612 Epidemiology I or BMI 5300 Introduction to Biomedical Informatics must be taken in the first semester.

Courses that are accepted at SBMI through the joint certificate program can only be transferred in if the grade earned in the course is a “B” or higher. Courses for which grades of less than “B” were earned will not be accepted for transfer.

Course of Study for Applied Biomedical Informatics Certificate Program

The Applied Biomedical Informatics Certificate Program offers the following course of study with a completion of 15 semester credit hours.

The Applied Biomedical Informatics Certificate Program offers two different options. Option 1 is a set of five predetermined courses with an emphasis in Electronic Health Records (EHRs).

BMI 5300 Introduction to Biomedical Informatics (3 credit hours)
BMI 5301 The U.S. Healthcare System (3 credit hours)
BMI 5306 Security for Health Information Systems (3 credit hours)
BMI 5313 Foundations of Electronic Health Records and Clinical Information Systems (3 credit hours)
BMI 5328 Systems Analysis and Project Management (3 credit hours)

BMI 5300 Introduction to Biomedical Informatics must be taken in the first semester. The other four courses can be taken in any order.

Option 2 is BMI 5300, Introduction to Biomedical Informatics and the student’s choice (with advice from a certificate program advisor) of four courses selected from the Applied Masters course offerings. This option allows professionals to customize their studies to meet their background and needs.

A maximum of three credit hours of Directed Study can be applied toward the Applied Biomedical Informatics Certificate program.

Course of Study for Health Data Science Certificate Program

The Health Data Science Certificate Program offers the following course of study with a completion of 15 semester credit hours.

BMI 5300 Introduction to Biomedical Informatics (3 credit hours)
BMI 5007 Methods in Health Data Science (3 credit hours)
BMI 5353 Biomedical Informatics Data Analysis (3 credit hours)
BMI 5304 Advanced Database Concepts in Biomedical Informatics (3 credit hours)
BMI 6340 Health Information Visualization & Visual Analytics (3 credit hours)

BMI 5300 Introduction to Biomedical Informatics must be taken in the first semester. The other four courses can be taken in any order based on individual course requirements.