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Undergraduate Accelerated Master’s Program (4+1)
Certificate of Biomedical Informatics
2018-2020 Student Handbook

Program Description and Goals Admission to the Accelerated 4 + 1 Program Application Deadlines Course of Study

Program Description and Goals

Undergraduate students have the opportunity to earn both a Bachelor of Arts/Science and a Master of Science in Biomedical Informatics over the course of five years through the Accelerated Master’s Program. The program is an integrated program that overlaps graduate curriculum into the student's undergraduate work, which provides the opportunity to graduate with the bachelors at the same time as their Graduate Certificate in Biomedical Informatics. The students undergraduate degree program must be in an appropriate area, e.g., biomedical science, pre-med, nursing, health sciences, life sciences, management information systems, or computer science to qualify for admission to the Accelerated 4+1 Program.

SBMI has collaboration agreements with the following institutions whose students are eligible to participate in this integrated curriculum:

  • Texas A&M International University (TAMIU)
  • University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV)

The student will graduate with an undergraduate degree in their selected major course of study, but will also have the opportunity to complete a master’s degree in Biomedical Informatics in one additional year instead of the customary two years.

Upon completion of the 15 semester credit hour certificate, students will be awarded a certificate of completion from UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics. A transcript showing graduate credits may be obtained from the Registrar’s Office.

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Admission to the Accelerated 4 + 1 Program

The admission process for the Accelerated 4 + 1 program requires the submission of both a Pre-Application and an SBMI application. Both applications must include all supplemental documents.

Step 1:
Prospective students are to complete the 4 + 1 Pre-Application where the applicant will upload the following items:

  1. Copy of TAMIU or UTRGV Degree Audit or unofficial transcript
  2. One Letter of Recommendation
  3. Essay Question
  4. See the SBMI Accelerated 4 + 1 Program Admission Requirements webpage for additional information: https://sbmi.uth.edu/prospective-students/academics/4-plus-1.htm

All documents for the Pre-Application must be submitted by September 15th for the Spring admission deadline, January 15th for the Summer admission deadline, and May 15th for the Fall admission deadline.

Candidates who successfully make it through the pre-application process will be cleared to begin step 2.

Step 2:
School of Biomedical Informatics Upon meeting the requirements in Step 1, candidates are to submit the SBMI Application.

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

  1. $60 application fee
  2. Two page goal statement
  3. One letter of recommendation
  4. An official transcript with minimum of a 3.0 GPA or higher in an appropriate area. Any dual credit or AP credits must be verified on the transcript from the present college or an official transcript from the awarding college or program.

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Application deadlines:

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

Any student receiving a grade of less than a “B” in a required or elective course must retake the course and receive a grade of “B” or higher to continue on in their academic program. The original grade of “C” will remain on the student transcript. Students are not permitted to earn more than two grades of “C”. The third grade of “C” will result in dismissal from SBMI.

No grade lower than a “B” will be accepted for transfer into the SBMI master’s or doctoral program.

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Course of Study for Certificate Programs

The course requirements for earning both the undergraduate degree and graduate certificate from SBMI will vary by participating institution. Please contact the SBMI Accelerated 4+1 Program Coordinator for additional information.

TAMIU Certificate offerings:

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

Biomedical 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 Health care (3 credit hours)
BMI 5360 Clinical Decision Support Systems (3 credit hours)
BMI 6340 Health Information Visualization and Visual Analytics (3 credit hours)

Public Health Informatics
BMI 5300 Introduction to Biomedical Informatics (3 credit hours)
BMI 5380 Principles of Public Health Informatics (3 credit hours)
PH 2612 Epidemiology 1 (3 credit hours)
PH 1690 Foundations of Biostatistics in Public Health (3 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)

UTRGV Certificate offerings:

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

Biomedical Informatics
BMI 5300 Introduction to Biomedical Informatics (3 credit hours)
BMI 5330 Introduction to Bioinformatics (3 credit hours)
BMI 5333 Systems Medicine: Principles and Practice (3 credit hours)
BMI 5353 Statistical Methods of Genomic Data (3 credit hours)
BMI 5327 Standards in Health Informatics (3 credit hours)

Biomedical Informatics
BMI 5300 Introduction to Biomedical Informatics (3 credit hours)
BMI 5380 Principles of Public Health Informatics (3 credit hours)
PH 2612 Epidemiology 1 (3 credit hours)
PH 1690 Foundations of Biostatistics in Public Health (3 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)

For Accelerated 4+1 Program Information, contact:

Jeanette Broshears
Program Manager
UTHealth School of Public Health
Brownsville Campus
80 Fort Brown Street, RAC N2.200
Brownsville, Texas 78520
Telephone: 956-755-0678
Email: Jeanette.L.Broshears@uth.tmc.edu

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