The masters degree program of study consists of three components:
Six public health core courses
Eight informatics courses
A practicum and capstone experience.
All courses are taught online.
A minimum of 51 credit hours must be earned over a maximum period of 5 years in order to graduate. Students would normally complete the degree in three years by taking five courses a year (two in the fall and spring and one in the summer). A field practicum is required. The academic advisor and a supervisor develop the structure of the practicum.
A capstone experience requires the student to synthesize and integrate knowledge acquired in coursework and other learning experiences. A field practicum may be the basis of a capstone requirement. The field practicum and capstone experience must address a practical informatics problem in an agency or organization.
BSTT 400 -- Biostatistics 1 (4 sh): Descriptive statistics, basic probability concepts, one- and two-sample statistical inference, analysis of variance, and simple linear regressions. Introduction to a statistical computer package such as Minitab or SAS.
CHSC 400 -- Public Health Concepts and Practice (3 sh): Concepts, principles, and case studies which provide an overview of the philosophy, purpose, history, organization, functions, tools, activities, and and results of public health practice.
EPID 400 -- Principles of Epidemiology (3 sh): Introduction to descriptive and analytic epidemiology, determinants of health and disease in populations, and application of the epidemiological method to disease control and prevention.
HPA 400 -- Principles of Management in Public Health (3 sh): Integrates theories, concepts, and applications of management techniques and processes in health programs. Case studies illustrate management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
EOHS 400 -- Principles of Environmental Health Sciences (3 sh): Environmental influences on health: population, food, energy; community hygiene and injury control; solid/hazardous wastes, air and water pollution, radiation; industrial hygiene and occupational health.
CHSC 401 -- Behavioral Sciences in Public Health (3 sh): Provides grounding in the social and behavorial sciences to analyze public health issues. Includes analysis of individual, community, institutional, and societal factors influencing health and illness.
HPA 437 -- Health Care Data (3 sh): Review of fundamentals constituting a health care information system. How data is transformed into information and then again transformed into knowledge through integrated computer systems.
HPA 465 -- Health Information and Decision Support Systems (4 sh): Introduction to public health informatics; computer-assisted management information and decision support systems in healthcare organizations; planning, analysis, development and evaluation of information systems; design of databases; data and information flow; reports creation; and uses of microcomputers.
BHIS 505 -- Legal and Social Issues in Health Informatics (3 sh): Examination of the legal and ethical issues involved in computerized health information systems.
HPA 510 -- Survey of Health Care Information Systems (4 sh): Examination, through case studies, of current and future information technologies and systems, in health care organizations and in health science libraries.
HPA 520 -- Management of Health Care Communication Systems (4 sh): Same as BHIS 515. Examination and management of data communications in and between health care facilities including examination of issues, standards, technologies, and system configurations.
HPA 563 -- WEB-Based Public Health Informatics (4 sh): Examination of web-based applications in public health practice and factors in the design of web-based public health education and database systems.
HPA 564 -- Applications of Geographic Information Systems in Public Health (3 sh): Examination of GIS applications in public health and the process of designing a GIS-based public health investigation.
HPA 565 -- Data Mining in Public Health (3 sh) Review of strategic decision systems and an introduction to the theory and practice of data mining in public health. Case studies in public health data mining will be assessed.
UIC provides online registration, academic counseling and library services. Online orientations to the UIC Internet-based course delivery systems, CourseInfo and WebBoard, are provided as well as telephone and online technical support to help you easily become accustomed to distance learning tools and techniques. Faculty advisors are readily available during telephone office hours or through email to answer any questions.