Master of Science in Medical Informatics

Offered in partnership with the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University

"$78 billion a year could be saved by moving to electronic patient records in a network with open communications standards."--The New York Times

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Northwestern University's Master of Science in Medical Informatics program gives individuals with information technology backgrounds and clinically trained health professionals the knowledge and experience needed to apply their talents to careers in information services organizations within hospitals, health systems, academic environments, and the health systems and equipment industry. This interdisciplinary professional program aims to blend computing and clinical skills in the emerging field of medical informatics. The curriculum recognizes the complexities and academic demands of the field and emphasizes the specific technical requirements of the profession without training its students too narrowly. Graduates are able to understand and affect developments in the medical informatics field from a technical, theoretical, and managerial perspective.

The MMI program provides the knowledge and skills needed for leadership roles in the important field of medical informatics. Offered online and on-campus in a part-time evening program, the curriculum focuses on the study and application of principles of information management, design, integration, implementation, and evaluation to enterprise-wide health care information systems.

In the MMI program, information technology is brought into the clinical environment to create and analyze systems for the digital medical age. Whether your background is in computing or information technology, health care or the life sciences, this program builds on your expertise and prepares you for the challenges of the medical informatics field.

Northwestern is the natural choice for students who wish to receive superior education at a nationally recognized research institution. Northwestern Memorial Hospital has been awarded "most wired" status by Health Care's Most Wired magazine. The MMI program offers students access to established leaders in health care informatics from the metropolitan Chicago community, including academic appointees as well as physicians in private practice who are successful early adopters of ambulatory medical records. Students who want to improve the overall quality of health care in the United States will find Chicago institutions to be leaders in the fields of clinical decision support and quality reporting.

Graduates of the MMI program will have the skills to fill positions in health care information technology across the entire spectrum of health care delivery: independent physicians' practices that need consultants to implement and maintain their electronic health records as well as hospitals beginning implementation of COE and integrated delivery systems. Graduates also have the skills to enter the growing field of health information exchange, which includes provider-centric regional health information organizations (RHIOs) and patient-centric models based on the emerging personal health records systems.

Students in the Feinberg School of Medicine can take advantage of the program's flexible course schedule to earn a both MD and MMI degrees while completing their studies in medicine.

The MMI program starts four times a year in both the on-campus and online options. Please be sure to review the important dates pertaining to this program or contact an enrollment advisor who can help you review the program requirements when applying for admission.