Master of Health Informatics CF21
Program at a glance
| Duration: | 2 years full-time, 4 years part-time |
| Mode & Location: | external |
| Courses/Units of Credit: | 12 courses, including dissertation for Stream B/96 units of credit |
| Faculty: | Faculty of Informatics & Communication |
| Entry: | direct (more info) |
| Accreditation: | not applicable |
| Residential School: | not applicable |
| Practicum/Work placement: | not applicable |
| Exit awards: | Graduate Diploma of Health Informatics |
| Interim awards: | not applicable |
| Contact: | Program Coordinator on 07 4930 9839 or Program Administrator on 07 4930 9681 or email ic-program-pg1@cqu.edu.au Note: CQU is an academic institutional member of the International Medical Informatics Association (I.M.I.A.) |
| International students: | not applicable |
| CRICOS program codes: | not applicable |
Program aim
Information Technology is becoming increasingly important in the health industry. Health informatics incorporates many fields of practice which collectively are concerned with delivering health services, making the best possible use of information supported by information and communication technologies. There is an urgent need for more clinicians, administrators and policy makers to know more about information management (IM) and about information and communication technologies (ICT) to facilitate the development, acquisition and use of innovative applications to improve overall healthcare performance for the benefit of all Australians. The Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma and Master of Health Informatics programs at CQU have been specifically developed to prepare individuals working anywhere in the health industry to make optimal use of these technologies to support their practice and improve patient outcomes.
Program structure
Core - All students are required to complete five level 1 & 2 & 3 health informatics courses plus three informatics foundation courses. The remaining elective courses provide flexibility to accommodate variations in entry knowledge, skills and professional roles and desired graduate outcomes based on chosen career path, opportunities or areas of interest.
The Master of Health Informatics is split into 2 streams. Stream A is entirely coursework based, Stream B is a research based option, and includes a dissertation, which is the equivalent of four courses. A normal part-time load is 1 to 2 courses per term.
Students interested in this stream will need to demonstrate an average level of academic performance at credit level or above and will need prior approval of the Program Coordinator. This approval will also depend on the availability of a suitable supervisor.
Stream A - Coursework
Health Informatics Courses (5 courses)
| Course Code | Course Title | Level |
|---|---|---|
| HLTH20009 | Health Information Science | 1 |
| HLTH21001 | Health Care Systems | 1 |
| HLTH29030 | Electronic Health Records & Standards | 2 |
| HLTH20007 | Evaluating Health Services | 2 |
| HLTH20034 | Decision Support in Healthcare | 3 |
Informatics Foundation Courses (3 courses)
| Course Code | Course Title | Level |
|---|---|---|
| COIS20024 | Systems Management Overview | 1 |
| COIS20025 | Systems Development Overview | 1 |
| COIT29222 | Programming Principles (or new web programming to be introduced) | 1 |
| ECOM20001 | Information Systems Management | 2 |
Four electives from the following:
| Course Code | Course Title | Level |
|---|---|---|
| HLTH20032 | Advanced Nursing Informatics | 2 |
| COIS20027 | Digital Telecommunications & Networks | 2 |
| COIS20026 | Database Development & Management | 2 |
| COIS20008 | Information Systems Project Planning & Management | 3 |
| COIS20077 | Knowledge Management | 3 |
| COIS20078 | Data Mining | 3 |
| COIS23001 | Network Security | 3 |
| ECOM20002 | Security, Ethics, & Electronic Commerce Systems | 3 |
| COIS20028 | Management & Design of Advanced Systems | 2 |
| COMM20036 | Informatics, Culture & Communication | 3 |
| ECOM20004 | Electronic Commerce - A Global Perspective | 3 |
| ECOM20007 | Developing E-Commerce Solutions | 3 |
Stream B - Research
Four Health Informatics and three informatics foundation courses, followed by :
| Course Code | Course Title | Level |
|---|---|---|
| COIS19071 | Research Methods | 3 |
| COIS20075 | Dissertation Part A | 3 |
| COIS20076 | Dissertation Part B | 3 |
Check the details
Entry
A bachelor degree in one of the health services from an Australian university or equivalent; or another field plus relevant experience in healthcare.
Preference will be given to applicants with at least one year professional work experience in addition to the above.
Consideration will be given on an individual basis to applicants with:
- Basic health professional preparation (non-degree) and who have had at least 2 years work experience at a middle or higher management level; or
- A similar background in business administration with at least 2 years relevant work experience in the healthcare sector.
Places for special entry are limited.
Advanced entry is available directly into Term 2 for students who can demonstrate that they have attained the required foundation informatics knowledge. These students will undertake nine courses to complete the program. To be granted advanced entry a student must:
- Have a bachelor degree, and
- Be able to demonstrate they have the required knowledge (based on the content of COIS20024, COIS20025 and COIT29222 or ECOM20001), and
- Either:
- Have two years relevant work experience, or
- Have one year other postgraduate education, or
- Have attained a final year GPA of 4.7 in their undergraduate degree at an Australian university or equivalent.
Program objectives
To provide advanced preparation for health professionals currently in the workforce who have (or wish to prepare for) positions in health service management, nursing or E-health where the use of informatics is a requirement.
The major emphasis in these programs is to prepare individuals working anywhere in the health industry to make optimal use of health information, information and telecommunication technologies to support their practice including health information support and development within healthcare organisations. Many graduates will be prepared for careers in health and medical informatics in either academia or healthcare (e.g. hospital) settings.
Graduates from the program are expected to be able to:
- Understand the organisation of the Australian health systems and view the healthcare industry form a business systems perspective.
- Discuss the healthcare industry's information needs and apply the concepts learned to solve problems.
- Document, retrieve, process, analyse, review, evaluate, interpret and communicate a plethora of information and data to make good and ethical use of available information to support their area of practice.
- Analyse clinical management, workflow and various e-health issues associated with the inroduction of electronic health records.
- Provide professional support to health informatics services and plan for the future by effectively using information for a) governance and policy formulation, b)administration and c) health care and clinical decisions.
- Be knowledgeable about ways in which current and potential information computing and telecommunication technology capabilities ad uses of existing health informatics tools can assist health professionals and influence care.
Computer Equipment Requirements
Students are required to have access to a personal computer with software enabling the student to run word processing, a database application, spreadsheet and communications software. An Internet Service Provider is also required so students are able to gain experience with using this technology, and to communicate with their lecturer and other students.
Transitional Arrangements for Continuing Students
The changes are such that continuing students will be able to continue to undertake their studies as originally planned or make some modifications to suit the new structure without penalty.