MSc/PGDip/PGCert Health Informatics (UCL/UoM Joint Award)
Year of entry: 2022
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Coronavirus information for applicants and offer-holders
We understand that prospective students and offer-holders may have concerns about the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The University is following the advice from Universities UK, Public Health England and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Overview
- Degree awarded
- Master of Science, PGDip, PGCert
- Duration
- 1yr FT, 2-5yr PT
- Entry requirements
-
We require an honours degree (minimum upper second class) from a UK university or overseas equivalent in:
- computer science
- health services research
- biological sciences
- statistics
- pharmacy
- nursing
- medicine
Students who do not meet these requirements but have appropriate professional experience will also be considered.
Applications from candidates who don't meet usual admissions criteria are also reviewed by the Dean of Students at UCL.
- Number of places/applicants
- 60
- How to apply
To apply for a course you will need to complete and submit an online application form at UCL.
Please complete the online form here .
Course options
| Full-time | Part-time | Full-time distance learning | Part-time distance learning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSc | Y | Y | N | N |
| PGDip | Y | Y | N | N |
Course overview
National initiatives in the UK are addressing key informatics challenges such as:
- patient-focused systems;
- integration of systems;
- using data to drive improvements.
You will learn about the different types of information systems and technologies that are used in healthcare, how they are commissioned, designed, implemented and introduced into use, and how the data that they are used to capture can drive improvements in care.
Open days
Fees
Fees for entry in 2022 have not yet been set. For reference, the fees for the academic year beginning September 2021 were as follows:
-
MSc (full-time)
UK students (per annum): Fees paid via block contract
International, including EU, students (per annum): Fees paid via block contract -
MSc (part-time)
UK students (per annum): Fees paid via block contract
International, including EU, students (per annum): Fees paid via block contract -
PGDip (full-time)
UK students (per annum): Fees paid via block contract
International, including EU, students (per annum): Fees paid via block contract -
PGDip (part-time)
UK students (per annum): Fees paid via block contract
International, including EU, students (per annum): Fees paid via block contract
Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Contact details
- School/Faculty
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
- Contact name
- Teaching Administration
- Telephone
- ihi.education@ucl.ac.uk
- Website
- https://www.ucl.ac.uk
- School/Faculty
-
Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
Courses in related subject areas
Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.
Entry requirements
Academic entry qualification overview
We require an honours degree (minimum upper second class) from a UK university or overseas equivalent in:
- computer science
- health services research
- biological sciences
- statistics
- pharmacy
- nursing
- medicine
Students who do not meet these requirements but have appropriate professional experience will also be considered.
Applications from candidates who don't meet usual admissions criteria are also reviewed by the Dean of Students at UCL.
English language
English language test validity
Application and selection
How to apply
To apply for a course you will need to complete and submit an online application form at UCL.
Please complete the online form here .
Course details
Course description
This course focuses on how information and information technology are used in the organisation and delivery of healthcare.
Our MSc in Health Informatics (jointly awarded by The University of Manchester and UCL) offers an innovative and exciting training in a uniquely challenging and important field.
Our blended learning MSc will equip you with the skills to work in this exciting field by providing:
- a unique combination of personal learning, theoretical challenge and practical application;
- blended approach which combines face-to-face contact and distance learning, harnessing the advantages of both across two campus;
- flexible study allowing you to complete the programme full-time in one year, or flexibly over up to five years;
- engagement with leading thinkers in the field across the UK and internationally;
- participation in a thriving network of academics, clinicians and informatics professionals.
Our programme is suitable for health professionals currently in work or graduate students.
UCL and The University of Manchester are uniquely placed to provide the health informatics training required for a modern health service.
You will have access to the largest UK health informatics faculty, including researchers who develop and apply solutions in a range of healthcare settings and direct national programmes in research education/training.
In 2020 we have written a new textbook Developing Medical Apps and Health Interventions and have published core competencies for clinical informaticians across the UK .
Both institutions sit in two of the largest regional health economies in the UK, hosting the greatest concentration of NHS global digital exemplar programmes. Eight professors and 13 senior academics contribute to the programme, alongside NHS and industry professionals.
Aims
The programme aims to:
- provide you with the skills to manage healthcare systems;
- provide you with an understanding of the healthcare system, from treatment of individuals to the wider population;
- emphasise the importance of informatics in patient driven healthcare;
- embed key health informatics principles, concepts and skills in students' working practices;
- combine leadership and transferable skills with technical skills training.
Special features
Each taught module is delivered largely online over eight or nine weeks with a short block of intensive face-to-face teaching. The online element includes video lectures, podcasts, written material as well as interactive exercises and discussions. The face-to-face teaching includes lectures, seminars, problem-based workshops and experiential learning.
Though designed to suit students in full- time work, it is also offered to students who register as full-time and complete all elements of the programme in a single academic year.
The programme will encourage intellectual curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking. It will teach transferable skills for lifelong learning and cultivate reflective practice. The content reflects the changing needs of healthcare.
We see learning and teaching as collaborative 'knowledge construction', which recognises the contribution of all stakeholders (academic staff, service users and carers, and students).
This is demonstrated in the programme through contributions made by these stakeholders, providing case-studies, examples, invited seminars and participation in group work.
We will promote translational thinking so that informatics knowledge, know-how, skills and understanding are applied to new health challenges to ensure that informatics is embedded as an enabler of change.
The structure of the programme ensures that you will share this knowledge with each other and learn to work in teams.
Teaching and learning
Programme delivery
This programme is mostly delivered online with 3 day problem-based face-to-face workshops on campus hosted either at The University of Manchester or UCL.
Coursework and assessment
Course content for year 1
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits for an MSc.
Full-time students will be required to take four compulsory modules (60 credits); four optional modules (60 credits) and a dissertation (60 credits). Part-time students will be required to take four core modules in Year 1, and four further modules in Year 2.
Core units:
- Essentials of Informatics for Healthcare Systems;
- Health Information Systems and Technologies;
- Standards and Interoperability;
- Principles of Health Data Analytics.
Course content for year 2
Optional units:
- Usable Health Systems Design;
- Personalised Health Informatics;
- Decision Support Systems;
- Patient Safety;
- Learning Health Systems;
- Modern Information Engineering.
Optional units have been organised into themes from those that explore more technical topics health informatics (Modern Information Engineering), those that are more focussed on understanding organisations (Patient Safety).
At no point are choices restricted to a single theme.
All students undertaking an MSc will undertake an independent research project in a report form of a journal article of up to 6,000 words.
Course unit list
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Information Systems | IIDS61001 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Standards & Interoperability | IIDS61102 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Essentials Informatics for Healthcare Systems (UCL) | IIDS62001 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Principles of Health Data Analytics (UCL) | IIDS62102 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Usable System Design | IIDS61201 | 15 | Optional |
| Modern Information Engineering | IIDS61301 | 15 | Optional |
| Decision Support Systems | IIDS61402 | 15 | Optional |
| Learning Health Systems (UCL) | IIDS62201 | 15 | Optional |
| Patient Safety (UCL) | IIDS62302 | 15 | Optional |
| Personal Health Informatics (UCL) | IIDS62401 | 15 | Optional |
Scholarships and bursaries
- the cost of travel to and from Manchester or London (depending on the module location);
- accommodation costs.
Please note: the bursary does not cover subsistence costs. To apply for a travel bursary, applicants must email the education admin team: ihi.education@ucl.ac.uk
For more information on additional costs for prospective students please go to the UCL estimated cost of essential expenditure at Accommodation and living costs .
Course collaborators
This is a joint course with the University College London (UCL) Institute of Health Informatics
Facilities
Disability support
Careers
Career opportunities
All graduates of this course will be prepared for technical and management roles leading the digital transformation of healthcare. Graduates of the course have gone on to leadership roles in the NHS and other healthcare organisations here and overseas.
Some of our graduates have moved into roles in industry in pharmaceutical companies or consulting organisations. Others have gone on to further study, taking on PhDs or fellowships while others have launched their own businesses.
Health Informatics is a subject of growing importance, with exciting career development prospects for clinicians, managers, administrators and technologists, as the Building a Digital Ready Workforce website demonstrates.