Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study Health Informatics at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).
The Health Informatics programme is designed for healthcare professionals and those who want to increase their knowledge and skills in health informatics. Accredited by the UK Council for Health Informatics Professions (UKCHIP), the programme uses state-of-the-art technologies and has a strong focus on practical experience is strongly linked with National Health Service (NHS) organisations, other research institutes and industry within the Life Science sector in Wales, UK.
- A one year full-time taught masters programme in Health Informatics that has been running successfully since 2001 and has an international reputation.
- The Health Informatics course is also available for three years part-time study with minimum attendance requirements.
- Accredited by the UK Council for Health Informatics Professions Education Quality Assurance Scheme.
- Uses state-of-the-art technologies and has a strong focus on practical experience.
- Strongly linked with National Health Services organisations and industry within the Life Science sector in Wales, UK.
- The Health Informatics course is based within the award winning Centres for Excellence for Administrative Data and eHealth Research of Swansea University, awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC), enhancing the quality of the course.
The Health Informatics course is suitable for current informaticians, those working in the health and healthcare sector, and graduates preparing for a career in health informatics. Applicants from non-graduates with domain experience are welcome.
Health Informatics students must complete 6 modules (5 core and 1 further module from a choice of two) to earn a minimum of 120 credits in total in Part One and produce a dissertation of not more than 20,000 words on a relevant health informatics topic in Part Two to graduate. Each module for this course requires five days of intensive study in Swansea. This will be augmented by preparatory and reflective material supplied via the course website before and after your visit.
Health Informatics students are required to attend the University for 1 week (5 consecutive days) for each module in Part One. Attendance during Part Two is negotiated with the supervisor.
Modules on the Health Informatics programme typically include:
• Health Informatics in Context
• Communications and Coding
• Using Secondary Health Data
• Systems and Technologies
• Knowledge Management
• Understanding Health Informatics Research
The Health Informatics course introduces two pathways for health informaticians who wish to specialise in one of the following areas:
1. Health Informatics Research
2. Leadership in Project Management
In partnership with the National Health Service (NHS) Wales Informatics Service and Health Boards in Wales, the Health Informatics course is able to offer NHS research opportunities within local NHS facilities and the NHS Wales Informatics Research Laboratories based at Swansea University.
In collaboration with the e-Health Industries Innovation Centre UK, this course offers you a unique opportunity to work with the industries to develop your work-based project that will give you the competitive edge and enhance your future employability.
Health Informatics remains one of the fastest growing areas within healthcare in the UK and US.
In the UK working as a professional health informatician, you could be introducing electronic health records for every person in the country or exploring patient data to identify trends in disease and treatment. If you love working with computers or have an analytical and inquisitive mind, then there is a job for you in health informatics as the NHS Careers in Health Informatics has demonstrated.
This research-focussed Masters programme is for students with informatics knowledge and experience already, who wish to develop their research skills and information management experience to support a move into PhD or commercial research.
With an international reputation in the field of informatics, and a thriving PhD student community, Henley Business School provides an ideal environment in which to learn effective skills for research in the domain of information systems and management. Our faculty members conduct a wide range of research activities, and undertake projects in multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research fields and cultures. They work with researchers and supervisors from across the university, as well as industries and universities nationally and internationally.
Compulsory Modules
Optional modules
In addition students must choose two optional modules from the list below.
Please note there is no guarantee that in any one year all modules will be available.
A holistic approach
Effective leadership requires more than first-class business acumen. It also requires a degree of self-awareness and sensitivity. Henley is renowned for its well-researched, professional approach to this aspect of business education and all our postgraduate programmes examine this aspect of leadership - helping to create emotionally intelligent graduates who can be fully effective in their chosen careers.
How you will learn
Henley Business School enjoys a strong reputation for the practical application of business ideas and concepts, underpinned by academic excellence and the strength of our research. We offer high-quality technical skills training as well as a deep understanding of the importance of personal development for leaders, a thread that runs through all of our Masters programmes.
Our postgraduate masters programmes feature a mix of core and optional modules, allowing you to tailor your degree towards your individual personal development needs and career ambitions. You will complete up to 10 taught modules during your programme, totalling 180 credits. One module usually equates to 20 credits or 10 hours of work per week. Your week will include lectures, tutorials, workshops and personal study, with each accounting for 25% of your time on average. This stimulating mix of lectures and interactive tutorials provides you with the opportunity to discuss and explore the subject material in depth with your lecturers and fellow students. You will be introduced to the latest thinking and research findings and be able to challenge some of those that have created it. You will also explore real-world issues and tackle current business challenges, and interact with guest lectures and speakers from industry, giving you the opportunity to test, extend and refine your knowledge and skills.
How we assess you
You will learn and be assessed through a wide variety of teaching methods which vary depending on your chosen Masters programme. These include online materials and multimedia content, guest lectures, individual and group assignments, case studies, field visits, dealing room simulations, presentations, applied projects, consultancy work and examinations.
On average examinations form around 70% of the assessed work with the remaining 30% coming from coursework, including a written dissertation or project depending on your chosen programme. The exam period falls between April and June in the summer term, with students taking an average of 5 or 6 exams. Graduation normally takes place in December.
Ongoing support
While postgraduate students are self-motivated and determined individuals, study at this level can present additional pressures which we take seriously. Lecturers are available to discuss the content of each module and your personal tutor can meet with you regularly to discuss any additional issues. Full-time support staff are also available to help with any questions or issues that may arise during your time at Henley.
The MRes Informatics programme prepares graduates for further research study for a PhD or a research-oriented career in industry. Most students in this programme already have a career as a business analyst, systems analyst, consultant, IT project manager, etc, and undertake this programme in order to add solid research skills to their portfolio.
Previous graduates of this programme have gone on to pursue a PhD or are now engaged in careers in the informatics field that require strong research skills.
Successful completion of the optional module Business Domain and Requirements Analysis can lead to the BCS Professional Certificate in Business Analysis Practice.
Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study Health Informatics at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).
The developing discipline of health informatics is becoming an increasingly important component of health provision in the 21st Century. This programme builds on the successful MSc in Health Informatics which has been running at Swansea University since 2001.
- The focus is on primary research, undertaken over 2 years.
- Research skills are developed through three short modules as the student develops their own health informatics research project in the first 9 months of the course.
- The research project may be undertaken within the student’s own place of work.
- The research is supported within an organisation with a strong research reputation. Each student will have one to one supervision at all stages of the research process.
- The Health Informatics programme is based within the award winning Centres for Excellence for Administrative Data and eHealth Research at Swansea University, as awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC).
- Through partnerships with National Health Service (NHS) bodies in Wales, we are able to offer a range of research opportunities.
The Health Informatics course is designed for those with experience in health informatics who want to make a contribution to the field by helping develop the knowledge base. Applications for non-graduates with domain expertise are welcome.
Health Informatics students must undertake 3 modules of a total of 60 credits at level in their first academic year. The second year will comprise supervised completion of a research based thesis. The requirements for supervision and review, as set out for standard research degrees, will be integrated into the course.
Only 3 individual weeks of attendance required in the first 9 months, one week for each of the modules.
Modules on the MRes Health Informatics typically include:
Critical Appraisal and Evaluation
Undertaking health informatics research
Any one existing health informatics module relating to the chosen topic
This innovative Masters programme, accredited by the University of Reading and approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education, is delivered in Beijing in collaboration with the Beijing Institute of Technology.
This programme provides students with a unique opportunity to study the two popular disciplines of business and information management in Beijing. Students will be taught by academic staff from Henley Business School, supported by academic staff from Beijing Institute of Technology. Students will learn scientific principles and approaches for gathering, processing and utilising information within businesses. With the theoretical and practical knowledge acquired from this programme, graduates should be capable of providing the right information to the right people for the right purpose within information intensive enterprises.
Compulsory modules
Optional modules
This programme is suitable for those wanting a career in information management or a career that combines business knowledge and ICT, such as business analyst, systems analyst, consultant, IT project manager, etc. It provides an understanding of the strategic deployment of technologies and methods to support operations and decision-making, vital in this world of fast-changing technologies. It also prepares students for PhD programmes relating to information systems.
‘I now understand business in a different way, structurally and systematically, which has helped me develop my career as a strategy consultant. The practice during class was fun and dynamic.’ Daniel Chi, Strategy Consultant.
Successful completion of the optional module Business Domain and Requirements Analysis can lead to the BCS Professional Certificate in Business Analysis Practice.
Healthcare demand is exceeding supply worldwide and there is a need for radical solutions. Innovative IT approaches are transforming healthcare. Health providers and leading multinationals are investing massively in technology and demand for qualified health informatics professionals is high.
This programme offers a detailed overview of health informatics, including telehealth, mHealth, data analytics, knowledge management and decision support. It takes a strong information systems perspective, building transferable skills in areas like soft systems, process modelling, strategy and system development, and focusing these on health.
The Yorkshire Centre for Health Informatics has a strong national and international reputation and is actively engaged in delivering education, skills, research and development to the NHS and a network of national and international software suppliers. As a student on the Masters programme, you’ll be actively involved with us in listening to, and informing, the informatics agenda for health.
More information
The professional development events run by the Yorkshire Centre for Health Informatics (YCHI) mean we have an established network of employers keen to recruit masters students and support their masters projects.
You’ll benefit from our location too. The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is the largest UK hospital trust and Leeds is the headquarters for many Department of Health organisations, such as NHS Digital and NHS England. We also have close relationships with leading health software suppliers based in Leeds, in particular The Phoenix Partnership, providers of SystmOne and ResearchOne. YCHI is part of the Leeds Institute of Data Analytics, bringing opportunities to be involved in exciting developments in “big data”.
You can also study this subject at MSc, Postgraduate Diploma and Certificate levels.
PgCert
You’ll study modules totalling 60 credits. These are made up of two core (compulsory) taught modules and two optional modules from a range offered in Health Informatics or Health Sciences. This gives you the opportunity to tailor your study to areas of interest ranging from specific skills, such as data analytics and visualisation, to applications such as clinical decision support, or particular domains, such as international health.
Compulsory modules:
PgDip
You’ll study modules totalling 120 credits. These are made up of four core (compulsory) taught modules and four optional modules from a range offered in Health Informatics or Health Sciences.
Compulsory modules:
plus
MSc
You’ll study modules totalling 180 credits. These are made up of four core (compulsory) taught modules and a research project, plus four optional modules from a range offered in Health Informatics or Health Sciences.
Compulsory modules:
plus
Teaching is through lectures, practical classes, tutorials, seminars and supervised research projects. We make extensive use of IT and a wide range of materials is available to enable you to study at your own pace and in your own time, to enhance and extend the material taught formally.
You’ll be able to use University facilities for independent study, such as computing facilities and the Health Sciences library, with its extensive collection of online journals.
The modules are assessed by a variety of methods including essays, reports, portfolios, websites, posters and presentations. Your results for every module contribute to your final degree classification.
Our alumni have successfully secured health informatics roles in healthcare organisations and industry. Students sponsored by their employers to study with us have reported achieving promotion after completing the course.
We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.
The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.
Design Informatics combines Data Science with Design Thinking in a context of critical enquiry and speculation. We build a value-aware, reflective practice at the interface between data and society by combining theory and research with an open-ended process of making and hacking.
Human activity is being constantly shaped by the flow of data and the intelligences that process it, moving towards an algorithmically mediated society. Design Informatics asks how we can create products and services within this world, that learn and evolve, that are contextualised and humane. Beyond that, it asks questions about what things we should create, speculating about the different futures we might be building and the values behind them.
The central premise is that data is a medium for design: by shaping data, we shape the world around us. Data Science provides the groundwork for this, with Design Thinking underpinning reflective research through design. You will use this in working with the internet of things and physical computing, machine learning, speech and language technology, usable privacy and security, data ethics, blockchain technologies. You will connect technology with society, health, architecture, fashion, bio-design, craft, finance, tourism, and a host of other real world contexts, through case studies, individual, and collaborative projects. You will understand user experience in the wider socio-cultural context, through an agile programme of hacking, making and materialising new products and services.
Please be aware that the structure of the programme may change.
Throughout the programme, you will be working both individually and in teams of designers and computer scientists. Everyone will have to write code during the course, and everyone will have to make physical objects. Several courses, including the dissertation, will involve presenting the artefact, product, service, or interactive experience that you have created to the general public in a show.
In the first year, you will study:
In Design with Data and Design Informatics Project, you are likely to work with an external partner, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, Amazon, Edinburgh City Council, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh or the National Museum of Scotland.
MSc and MA students then undertake a dissertation in the summer before graduation.
MFA and Advanced MSc students take a summer placement with a relevant digital organisation then return for a second year of study, comprising:
Elective courses are drawn from the Masters Programmes of the School of Informatics, Edinburgh College of Art, and Philosophy, Psychology, and Language Sciences. Courses are typically 10 or 20 credits.
This degree will put you at the cutting edge of the intersection between data science, design, and information technology, opening a host of opportunities in working with companies, charities, and the public sector. We encourage entrepreneurship. For those who wish to stay in academia, the course provides a solid foundation for a PhD in related areas.
Design informatics focuses on designing with data. This course is run in conjunction with Edinburgh College of Art through the Centre for Design Informatics.
On this programme you will learn how to build computational systems as well as the principles of design thinking and making.
Through case studies of real-life products you will apply your knowledge in a practical way, developing an understanding of what it takes to create, design and take a product to market.
Design Informatics: designing with data can be explored in most specialist areas of Informatics, but Design Informatics emphasises entrepreneurial product development.
In the first year you follow two semesters of taught courses, attending lectures, tutorials and group practicals to acquire the theoretical foundation to enable you to engage in independent research.
In the summer you have a commercial or public semester placement, where you will work on a project that will help you test and reflect on your knowledge and skills.
In the second year, taught courses focus on product design, and you will gain experience in leading a group, before completing a dissertation project.
Compulsory courses:
Option courses:
Work placement/internship
You will work on a project that will help you use your skills and knowledge during a summer placement with a commercial or public sector organisation.
This degree will put you at the cutting edge of design technology and technology for design, opening a host of opportunities in the commercial sector.
Design informatics focuses on designing with data. This programme is run in conjunction with Edinburgh College of Art through the Centre for Design Informatics.
On this programme you will learn how to build computational systems as well as the principles of design thinking and making.
Through case studies of real-life products you will apply your knowledge in a practical way, developing an understanding of what it takes to create, design and take a product to market.
You follow two semesters of taught courses, attending lectures, tutorials and group practicals to acquire the theoretical foundation to enable you to engage in independent research.
Between May and August you will do a major individual research project on which you will write a dissertation.
Design Informatics: designing with data can be explored in most specialist areas of Informatics, but with a focus on entrepreneurial product development.
Compulsory courses:
Option courses include:
This degree will put you at the cutting edge of design technology and technology for design, opening a host of opportunities in the commercial sector.
Informatics is the study of how natural and artificial systems store, process and communicate information.
Edinburgh has a long-standing tradition of world-class research and teaching in informatics, a discipline central to a new enlightenment in scholarship and learning, and critical to the future development of science, technology and society.
This is our most sought-after taught MSc. We offer a wide choice of courses, spanning established disciplines such as cognitive and computer science as well as emerging areas such as bioinformatics.
The programme takes full advantage of our expertise in research and teaching, including specialisms unique to Edinburgh.
You follow two taught semesters of lectures, tutorials, project work and written assignments, after which you will learn research methods before individual supervision for your project and dissertation.
Compulsory courses:
You will choose a ‘specialist area’ within the programme, which will determine the choice of your optional courses:
There are 100 optional courses available to MSc Informatics students, including courses within specialist areas unique to the programme.
Our graduates are well regarded by potential employers worldwide. Many go on to work in the technology industry as software engineers, IT consultants, programmers and developers, and may work with the software and hardware giants that have become household names. Others go on to further study and research.
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