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CURRICULUM
PhD Course Requirements
The PhD in Health Informatics program requires a total of 55 credit hours of coursework. Expand the sections below to learn more about the pillar, elective, and dissertation research coursework required for the degree.
Core & Frontier Courses (6 credit hours)
These courses expose students to the foundational concepts in informatics. This pillar will also allow students to gain a firm understanding of where research challenges lie and the nature of these challenges. Courses in this pillar will cover advanced data modeling; data management and warehousing; data integration and networking; data presentation and visualization principles; data governance and data ethics.
Tools & Infrastructure Courses (6 credit hours)
These courses go beyond the basic concepts and principles covered in core topics. This pillar will offer opportunities for students to gain experience in manipulating wide varieties of data occurring in diverse health care contexts. It will also train students to build new tools and methods for extracting insights from health data. The courses in this pillar will cover advanced training in statistical analysis; data mining; system analysis and design; data interpretation and data quality.
Research Methods Courses (3 credit hours)
These courses focus on constructing sound research studies concentrated on various aspects of health care. The courses in this pillar will cover gathering research data; analysis of research data; drawing conclusions from research data; presenting research data; and identifying limitations based on gaps present in research data.
Project Management & Leadership Courses (3 credit hours)
These courses examine current techniques and methods of leading and sustaining research projects. Emphasis will be placed on project management skills in the context of developing and maintaining research projects that span a several year period.
Implementation Science & Research Translation Courses
(3 credit hours)
These courses emphasize developing research projects with an eye toward the conversion of key outcomes that will have a direct impact on the health care of individuals or a community. Coursework in this pillar will cover understanding intellectual property rights; collaboration with stakeholders such as government, for-profit and non-profit organizations; dissemination of research; and ensuring long-term sustainability of outcomes/solution.
A minimum of 12 credit hours is required
Any graduate level course that advances a student’s knowledge of health informatics, and/or relevant skills needed to successfully conduct their dissertation research, will count toward the required coursework for the health informatics PhD program.
A minimum of 6 credit hours is required
Individual work on the doctoral dissertation under the guidance of the student’s dissertation advisor. Graduate students must have completed their pillar and elective coursework requirements.
Additional doctoral research credits can be completed to accumulate the 55-credit hours required for the degree.
Up to 18 credit hours of relevant graduate-level coursework can be transferred in from previous degrees. The recommendation to grant transfer credit will be made on an individual basis and will require the approval of the graduate school.
Pillar Course Offerings
The coursework for the PhD program is customizable and can be designed to fit each student’s interests and level of experience in various areas. As such, students have the flexibility of choosing biomedical health informatics related course offerings from a variety of subjects areas to fulfill their Pillar and Elective course requirements.
Examples include course offerings from:
- Carolina Health Informatics Program (CHIP)
- Information and Library Science (INLS)
- Biostatistics (BIOS)
- Computer Science (COMP)
- Epidemiology (EPID)
- Nursing (NURS)
- Pharmacy Outcomes and Policy (DPOP)
- Public Health (PUBH)
- Health Policy and Management (HPM)
- Experimental Therapeutics (DPET)
- Graduate Studies (GRAD)
- Pathology (PATH)
Sample Pillar Course Offerings
BIOS 511 – Introduction to Statistical Computing and Data Management
BIOS 611 – Intro to Data Science
BIOS 660 – Probability and Statistical Inference
BIOS 735 – Statistical Computing
CHIP690 – Quality Improvement Data Vis
CHIP 732 – Database Systems
EPID 600 – Principles of Epid
HPM 730 – Leadership &Workforce Management
INLS 509 – Information Retrieval
INLS 523 – Database Systems I
INLS 541 – Information Visualization
INLS 576 – Distributed Systems and Administration
INLS 584 – Information Ethics
INLS 623 – Database Systems II
INLS 718 – User Interface Design
INLS 751 – Data Governance and Curation
INLS 760 – Web Databases
CHIP 690 – Health App Development with JavaScript + FHIR
CHIP 690 – Data Analytics in Healthcare
CHIP 690 – Human Factors in Healthcare
CHIP 690 – Quality Improvement and Lean Six Sigma
CHIP 690 – Quality Improvement Data Visual
CHIP 690 – Foundations of Clinical Data Science
CHIP 725 – Electronic Health Records
COMP 775 – Medical Image Analysis
EPID 700 – SAS and Data Management
GEOG 567 – Geospatial data analysis
HPM 714 – Advanced Spreadsheet Modeling for Business
HPM 770 – Operations Research for Healthcare Systems
INLS 512 – Applications of Natural Language Processing
INLS 560 – Programming for Information Professionals
INLS 582 – Systems Analysis and Design
INLS 625 – Information Analytics
INLS 641 – Visual Analytics
INLS 761 – Data Analysis
INLS 767 – Information Assurance
PLAN 672 – Urban data analytics
CHIP 690 – Usability and Evaluation Methods
INLS 884 – Seminar in Research Methodology
DPET 831 – Quantitative Methods in Clinical Research
EPID 726 – Epidemiologic Research Methods
EPID 766 – Epidemiologic Research with Healthcare Databases
HPM 794 – Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement
HPM 880 – Principles of Health Policy Research Methods
HPM 884 – Health Services/Health Policy Research Methods I
HPM 885 – Health Services/Health Policy Research Methods II
INLS 581 – Research Methods
INLS 884 – Seminar in Research Methodology
CHIP 400 – Digital Health Innovations
ENVR 989 – Environmental Crisis Management
EDUC 850 – Change Leadership & Systems Improvement
GRAD 712 – Leadership in Science-based Organizations
GRAD 713 – Applied Project Management
HPM 620 – Implementing Health Informatics Initiatives
HPM 730 – Leadership & workforce manage
HPM 959 – Strategic Management in Health Leadership
INLS 585 – Management for Information Professionals
INLS 685 – Project Management: Strategy and Applications
NURS 966 – Health Systems Innovation in Complex Organizations
PUBH 747 – Project Management Principles and Practices
BIOS 740 – Spec Meth Health stat
GRAD 720 – Team-based Consulting for Technology Commercialization
HPM 600 – Intro to Health Policy and Management
HPM 620 – Implementing Health Informatics Initiatives
HPM 759 – Health Policy Development and Advocacy
HPM 767 – Disseminating Evidence and Innovation in Cancer Care
INLS 509 – Info Retrieval
MBA 893B – Healthcare Analytics
PATH 890 – Introduction to Technology Commercialization
Visit the UNC Course Catalog for a complete listing of graduate course offerings.
Carolina Health Informatics Program PhD Handbook
The CHIP PhD Handbook is where students, faculty, and committee members will find detailed information about the CHIP doctoral degree program. Click the link below to access the current handbook.