ONC-Funded Scholarship Program for OHSU Biomedical Informatics Graduate Program Open for Applications

Applications are now being accepted for scholarship funding from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) to study in the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) biomedical informatics graduate program. This funding comes from the ONC's University-Based Training Program, and is part of their Health IT Workforce Development Program that aims to rapidly expand the workforce through predominantly short-term educational opportunities. In the case of OHSU, this will involve tuition scholarships for 135 students in our Graduate Certificate program and 13 students in our Master of Biomedical Informatics (MBI) program over the next three years. The latter will also receive a stipend and student health insurance while enrolled in the program. Enrollment for both programs will begin in Fall 2009.

Despite this funding, very little else about OHSU's larger informatics programs will change. The ONC scholarships add funding for a large number of students as well as some additional academic requirements centered around six health IT job roles. Each of these job roles has requirements for additional courses that either already exist or will shortly be added to the curriculum. Students not funded by the ONC scholarships will still be able to study in the program as they always have. For more information, click on the "ad" to the right or go directly to www.ohsuscholarships.info.

More details about the program are available on the OHSU Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology (DMICE) Web site. To qualify for funding, students must be US citizens or permanent residents; must not have been enrolled in an informatics educational program on December 17, 2009 or earlier; must commit to study in one of six ONC-designated job roles; and must commit to completing the Graduate Certificate program in one year or the MBI program full-time and on-campus over 1 1/2 years.

The OHSU Biomedical Informatics Graduate Program offers a variety of certificates and degrees in three tracks: clinical informatics (CI), bioinformatics and computational biology (BCB), and health information management (HIM). The CI and HIM tracks are focused on the healthcare and public health arenas, while the BCB track is focused on translational bioinformatics and personalized medicine. The ONC funding is limited to the CI and HIM tracks.

The certificate and degree programs are implemented on a building-block model, where courses at any level can be carried to programs at higher levels. The most basic program is the Graduate Certificate program, which is offered for the CI and HIM tracks. (The HIM Graduate Certificate is CAHIIM-accredited and allows graduates to sit for the examination for the RHIA credential.) OHSU offers two master's degree programs which differ only in the culminating project being a thesis (Master of Science) or a capstone or internship (MBI). The master's degree programs are offered for the CI and BCB tracks (although HIM Graduate Certificate graduates can easily move into the CI master's programs). OHSU's PhD program is offered for the CI and BCB tracks. All CI and HIM track programs up to and including the master's degree programs are available both on-campus and via distance learning. The BCB track and PhD program are only available on the OHSU campus.

The introductory course in the CI track (BMI 510 - Introduction to Biomedical and Health Informatics) was also adapted to be the original course in the AMIA 10x10 ("ten by ten") program, which aims to education 10,000 professionals in informatics by the year 2010. It has been the most subscribed course in the 10x10 program, and about 15% of graduates have gone on to further study in the OHSU Biomedical Informatics Graduate Program.

Why study biomedical informatics at OHSU? We have a long-standing program that is one of largest in active enrollment as well as alumni. Our 230+ alumni have taken a variety of jobs in healthcare organizations, academia, industry, government, and other settings. We also have a full-time faculty who are not only passionate about teaching but also accomplished researchers and thought leaders in the field. Finally, our program is a real graduate program and not a continuing education program.

ONC Grant Provides Financial Aid for Clinical Informatics Education

My last posting noted that Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) was awarded two grants totaling $5.8 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds to advance health information technology (HIT) education. In this entry, I will begin to describe the details, especially for those who might be eligible for this funding. This posting contains the initial text of what will be a continually updated page for those interested in the program.

One of the grants is for direct financial aid for students studying in HIT-related fields. In the case of OHSU, this funding will support the education of approximately 150 students over the next three years in OHSU's Biomedical Informatics Graduate Program. These funds will support tuition and fees for about 45 new students per year to enroll in and complete the university's online Graduate Certificate Program in Biomedical Informatics. The funding will also enable two cohorts of around students to enroll in OHSU's on-campus Master of Biomedical Informatics (MBI) Program, including a stipend and student health insurance. This funding is provided via a training grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC).

There are some restrictions on this funding beyond the usual program requirements:

1. Students must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
2. Students must not have been enrolled in the OHSU or any other informatics or health information technology educational program on or before December 17, 2009 (i.e., current students are not eligible). This restriction does not apply to students who have completed only the OHSU-AMIA 10x10 Program.
3. Students pursuing the Graduate Certificate Program must complete the program within one academic year.
4. Students pursuing the Master of Biomedical Informatics (MBI) Program must enroll as full-time on-campus students to receive the stipend and student health insurance.
5. Students must declare one of six job roles defined by ONC and follow a course of study commensurate with that role.

Students who are not eligible or who are interested in other areas of biomedical informatics (such as bioinformatics) should apply to the existing program.

Details of the admissions process are being finalized and applications will be available in mid-May for Fall 2010 admission. Please check this page frequently for more details. By mid-April, this page will include a sign-up form for students who wish to receive email updates on the status of the program.

ONC Program Details

OHSU's eight-course Graduate Certificate Program is entirely online and can be completed in two to four academic quarters. Students who are funded through this program will receive support for their tuition expenses and must complete its requirements within one year. (The Health Information Management Track of the Graduate Certificate Program requires additional courses which will be fully funded under this program.)

The Master of Biomedical Informatics (MBI) degree program requires about 1 1/2 years of full-time study. The funding provides MBI students with tuition support, a stipend and student health insurance.

Students receiving financial aid will be required to choose among six career paths defined by ONC:

• Clinician/public health leader
• Health information management and exchange specialist
• Health information privacy and security specialist
• Research and development scientist
• Programmers and software engineer
• Health IT sub-specialist

Students will be able to enroll in the new programs Fall 2010. More information about applying, degree requirements and financial aid will be available on this page in mid-May, 2010.

More About Our Program

OHSU offers a full range of graduate programs in biomedical informatics for cutting-edge and rewarding careers using information and associated technologies to advance individual health, healthcare, biomedical research, and public health. There are two main tracks in the program: clinical informatics and bioinformatics/computational biology. The clinical informatics track, with the exception of the PhD program, is available via distance learning. Other forms of financial aid, such as our National Library of Medicine Training Grant, are available for full-time on-campus PhD or postdoctoral master's students in both tracks.