The health landscape for the Golden State is served by many care organizations and institutions, making California home to a wide range of job opportunities in this industry. As a result, California has a high demand for health informaticians due to its large and diverse population.
According to the data acquired by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the work opportunities for those working in health informatics are projected to grow by 18 percent between 2020 and 2030. On average, this expected job increase is faster than the average when considering all occupations.
The growth is attributed to the increasing emphasis on utilizing data and technology to improve healthcare quality while reducing costs.
As home to leaders in the development and implementation of innovative healthcare technology, health informaticians can find a wide range of job opportunities in California.
Nursing Informatics Programs in California
University of California, Los Angeles
Often shortened to UCLA, the University of California Los Angeles is a public research university in the Westwood area of Los Angeles, California. Consistently topping the list of the most prestigious universities in the world, UCLA offers over 125 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
Students can expect to select from a wide range of disciplines, which include the social sciences, physical sciences, nursing, medicine, life science, law, engineering, education, business, and arts and humanities. Also calling it home is the UCLA Medical Center, which is considered one of the top hospitals in the United States.
Master of Science in Health Informatics
The Master’s degree in health informatics offered by UCLA is designed to prepare students for key leadership roles in healthcare delivery using data and technology. Advanced training in biomedical and health informatics is aligned with the current health, environmental attributes, and skill-sets of the community.
Providing a comprehensive curriculum for students, the program ensures that participants are prepared for career paths in research, information management, and knowledge sharing. The degree has a core-intensive program with a mandatory thesis and research project.
Students need to complete a total of 55 units, with 19 for requisite core courses and 27 for approved domain courses. The remaining 9 units are allocated for topics on research in health informatics.
Program participants can expect to undergo such courses as:
- Electronic health records
- Introduction to health informatics
- Databases in healthcare
- Research in health informatics
- Consumer digital health
- Security in informatics
- Database and knowledge management
- Programming in health informatics
- Clinical Knowledge for health informatics
Applicants are required to present a minimum grade point average score of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, or equivalent, from an accredited institution.
Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent degree, holders will need to have their academic grades assessed and approved by the admissions team. The program is ideal for researchers, clinicians, and leaders to train for advanced scientific careers in health informatics.
University of California, San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), is part of the University of California school system and is the only UC campus dedicated solely to the health sciences.
As a leading institution for the education of health professionals, UCSF ranks as one of the best universities for the advancement of medical knowledge through research.
The university has a diverse student body with a vibrant faculty and staff community. Found in the heart of San Francisco, UCSF provides students with a variety of educational, cultural, and recreational opportunities.
Master of Science in Digital Health Informatics
Focusing on multidisciplinary skills, UCSF students can select domain-specific courses that suit their innate curiosity and skills. These include health informatics in the global, mental, consumer, and digital industries.
Participants can expect to learn skills in conceptualizing, designing, and assessing digital health solutions. Aside from these, participants will gain exposure to the latest programming and biomedical data analysis and visualization methods, along with machine learning, advanced statistical methods, and programming.
The program can run for three to six semesters with a total of 36 total units. The total number is composed of 28 required units, four units allocated to the capstone project, and another four units for electives. The program is ideal for professionals as well since it has evening courses, online sessions, and immersive projects.
Students can expect to learn multiple topics essential to health informatics, such as:
- Perspective health informatics
- Global health informatics
- Consumer health informatics
- Population health informatics
- Research methodologies
- Project in health informatics
- Healthcare systems leadership
- Financial resource management
- Healthcare policy and ethics
- Mental health informatics
Graduates of this program can expect to become leaders in the development and application of new and emerging information technologies that improve healthcare delivery.
By mastering the data related to healthcare, health informaticians are trained to enhance and elevate the industry through innovative techniques and insights.
Stanford University
Located in the heart of Silicon Valley in California, Stanford University stands out among the many prestigious schools in the United States and in the world. The university has a wide range of academic programs in humanities, business, engineering, and natural sciences.
Stanford University offers a Master’s degree in health informatics through its renowned School of Medicine. By empowering its students with the latest theoretical concepts and practical applications in the healthcare industry, the program has become one of the most in-demand in the country.
Master of Science in Clinical Informatics Management
This master’s program emphasizes the importance of developing novel computational methodologies that are in an enviable position to advance biomedicine. Students interested in the medical or biological application of existing informatics methods and techniques will benefit greatly from the coursework.
While the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is not required for admission, the program is an intensive academic experience that is still highly achievable. The flexible format is ideal for many working professionals, although it is only offered to students as a full-time in-person program.
The 12-month program has in-person classes every other weekend on Fridays and Saturdays. Participants can engage in coursework, assignments, readings, and group projects online on days when in-person classes are not required.
Students can expect to learn the topics that affect health informatics, such as:
- Accounting for managers and entrepreneurs
- Bioethical challenges of new technology
- Leading and managing healthcare organizations
- Health information technology and strategy
- Marketing science and patient engagement
- Social entrepreneurship and innovation lab
- Bioethical challenges of new technology
- Corporate financial management
- Healthcare operations management
- Modeling biomedical systems regarding ontology, terminology, and problem solving
The on-campus weekends are designed to allow students to network with other participants of the program in person, including professors and staff. These social activities can prove to be valuable for the future of health informatics, where participants diverge on different career paths yet still keep in contact with relevant professionals in the industry.
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC) offers leading educational programs in business, engineering, health, law, and arts. Boasting a large and diverse population of students and employees, USC is a known leader in research and innovation, focusing on interdisciplinary collaborations with a global impact.
USC offers its master’s program in health informatics through its prestigious School of Pharmacy. The program is a cross-disciplinary degree program jointly offered by the Keck School of Medicine and the Viterbi School of Engineering.
By combining science and math, health informaticians end up being equipped with the latest medical and technological innovations.
Master of Science in Healthcare Data Science
Participants of this Master’s program will learn data science skills, as well as clinical and healthcare methodologies. In terms of science, students will experience the required knowledge in developing scalable data systems, designing data analyses, and working in multi-disciplinary teams.
On the medical side, participants will be integrated into healthcare team settings aside from working on clinical courses and medical technology systems.
Applicants with undergraduate degrees in science, healthcare, technology, engineering, or math are ideal for this program, especially if they have satisfactory grade point average (GPA) scores.
There are a total of 32 units that can be completed in as little as four semesters, or an equivalent to two academic years. Participants can only take two courses per semester. The courses will involve some of the essential topics in health informatics, such as:
- Principles of programming for data science
- Advanced topics in biomedical systems
- Topics in health, technology and engineering
- Security systems
- Web Technologies
- Security and privacy
- Data visualization
- User experience design and strategy
- Advanced biomedical imaging
- Medical diagnostics, therapeutics, and informatics applications
- Data privacy issues and solutions
- Probability and statistics for data science
Graduates are expected to master data analytics in diverse health-related tech companies and startups by developing emerging technologies that revolve around healthcare data.
As the health industry continues to evolve and adapt to changing landscapes, healthcare data science professionals will always be projected to be in demand.
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