Department of Health Sciences

 

MS Health Informatics/MPH

Program Overview

The Master of Science in Health Informatics/Master of Public Health Dual Degree Program prepares graduates to lead healthcare at the nexus between public health and health informatics. Graduates of this program will benefit from having a greater understanding of public health issues along with knowledge and skills in information science, business management and healthcare.

Recognizing the increasing overlap between health informatics and public health, this program allows coursework that is in both the MPH and MSHI curricula to be counted toward both degrees, reducing tuition costs and saving one year of study compared to obtaining both degrees individually.

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Full Time, Fully Online

Cross-Departmental Course Offerings

Supportive Learning Environment
with Outstanding Student Mentoring

Curriculum

The MS in Health Informatics/MPH Program is a interdisciplinary dual degree program offered in collaboration by the Bouvé College of Health Sciences Department of Health Sciences and the College of Computer and Information Science. The dual degree program meets the Council on Education in Public Health (CEPH) accreditation requirements and is an academic organizational affiliate of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

All MS/MPH degree candidates must complete a total of 57 credits consisting of:

9 courses, 3 credits each = 27 credits

  • Biostatistics in Public Health
  • Environmental Health
  • Introduction to Epidemiology
  • Public Health Administration and Policy
  • Society, Behavior, and Health
  • Principles and History of Urban Health
  • Race, Ethnicity, and Health in the United States
  • Urban Community Health Assessment
  • Health Education and Program Planning

5 courses, 3 credits each = 15 credits

  • Introduction to Health Informatics Systems
  • Database Design, Access, Modeling, and Security
  • Key Standards in Health Informatics
  • Improving the Patient Experience through Informatics
  • Quantifying the Value of Informatics

3 course, 3 credits each = 9 credits

Students must complete three selective courses. They must choose at least one course from the following two groups:

Business/Management Selective

  • Business of Healthcare Informatics
  • Project Management
  • Organizational Behavior, Workflow Design, and Change Management

Healthcare Selective

  • Strategic Management and Leadership in Healthcare
  • Evaluating Healthcare Quality
  • Patient Engagement, Informatics, and Analytics

Minimum 200 hour, community-based internship (3 credits)

The goal of the practicum is to provide the opportunity to integrate and apply classroom learning in a health informatics/public health environment, enabling students to network and learn from professionals in the field.

The nature and location of the practicum is flexible. Students in this program will work with faculty advisors to cultivate a unique practicum placement reflective of their particular interests.

Students also have access to Northeastern’s Experiential Network (XN), which pairs students with industry partners to complete short (six-week), virtual projects that complement their academic work and enables them to build their professional network at the same time.

To learn more about how public health internships, like our program’s Practicum requirement and those offered through Northeastern’s Experiential Network (XN), can be used to gain pre-professional experience, click here.

Capstone Project (3 credits)

Capstone is an opportunity for students to integrate their theory and practice experiences into a culminating experience that can take the form of either 1) a major research, program planning, policy development, management, service delivery, or evaluation project that they design in consultation with Northeastern faculty and community partners, or 2) preparing for and pass the Certified in Public Health (CPH) Exam.

Admissions

The MS in Health Informatics/MPH Program accepts students for entry in Fall only.

All applicants must apply via the SOPHAS application system:

Applicants accepted: Domestic and International*
Delivery: Fully Online
Student status: Full TimeΔ
Application deadline: 6/1 for Fall start

* International students who plan to study in their home country or who do NOT need a student visa are eligible to apply for this program.
Δ Part-time options may be available. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

The Admissions Committee reviews applications on a rolling basis until the final 6/1 admissions deadline.

Admissions Checklist

Click each required application item for more information. No major or course prerequisites are required to apply.

Completed Application via SOPHAS
Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher
Official Transcripts
Official Test Scores
Three Evaluations
Personal Statement
Interview

Contact Information

We welcome any questions you might have about our program! Please feel free to send general program inquiries and admissions-related questions to [email protected].

Jay Spitulnik

Jay Spitulnik, PhD, EdM
Health Informatics Program Director
617.373.6507
[email protected]

Neil Maniar

Neil Maniar, PhD, MPH
MPH Program Director
617.373.5925
[email protected]