Master's | In-person

Master of Science in Biomedical Informatics

Curriculum

Data done right. Health informatics at UChicago

We designed UChicago’s bioinformatics degree program to propel you into this exciting and innovative career. Built for busy adults, our flexible in-person program can take as little as one year full-time or five years part-time. Our evening and weekend classes—taught by expert instructors, each a practicing professional in the field—boast small classes for maximal personal support and an easily accessible location in downtown Chicago.

Bioinformatics students learn and master:

  • Managing informatics projects
  • Communicating with diverse professional audiences
  • Using informatics methodologies in a range of biomedical settings
  • Navigating the ethical, privacy, and data security considerations at play in the field

Program format

  • Students can typically expect core course class sizes to range between twenty to twenty-five, with elective classes ranging from ten to fifteen
  • Each class meets once per week for three hours, and students complete each course in ten weeks
  • Courses are offered on weeknights and Saturday mornings to accommodate working professionals
Program Format Estimated Time to Completion Able to work Full-time?
Full-time 1 year Yes
Part-Time 2-5 years Yes

Biomedical Informatics curriculum

The master's in bioinformatics program requires the successful completion of 12 courses.

To earn their degree, students must complete:

All MScBMI students are expected to have introductory-level competency in the following areas:

  • Statistics: this can be fulfilled by a course such as Introduction to Statistics or Biostatistics
  • Health Sciences of Clinical Care: this can be fulfilled by a survey or overview course in health sciences or a clinical degree.

In your application, please indicate in your personal statement which courses in your transcript fulfill this program requirement or how you plan to fulfill these requirements. The MScBMI program does offer convenient bootcamps for all incoming students to help satisfy these prerequisites.

Biostatistics proficiency assessment

The Biostatistics Proficiency is designed to assess students’ proficiency with basic statistical concepts such as descriptive statistics, random variables and probability, statistics inference, chi square, analysis of variance, correlation, and linear regression. Results of the assessment will determine whether students should enroll into the pre-quarter, 3-week biostatistics bootcamp.

Data analysis proficiency assessment

The Data Analysis Proficiency is designed to gauge students’ current knowledge of statistics and data analysis. Concepts covered by this assessment include descriptive statistics, statistics inference, types of variables, probability, analysis of variance, correlation and linear regression, basic programming concepts in R as required for analyzing and reporting data. Results of the assessment will guide students’ enrollment into an introductory level or intermediate level data analysis course.

Core courses

Core courses in the master in bioinformatics program expose students to the practical applications and theoretical elements that impact health informatics. Our graduates learn key skills for understanding, designing, and managing health information technology systems and projects, all of which will prepare them to excel in this field. Course offerings may change within an academic year. Students must choose five of the following core courses:

Customize your degree with elective courses

The University of Chicago excels at offering students customized curricula through specialized offerings. You can personalize your degree with a wide range of electives that prepares students with the critical skills, practical knowledge, and confidence to understand, build, and improve informatics solutions that can help address the most significant challenges in healthcare today. Students must choose four of the following elective courses:

Solve Real-World Problems in Healthcare

Capstone Project

Get hands-on industry experience tailored to your area of focus with the Capstone Project, an applied research project that pairs you with an industry, university, or research partner to develop an actionable biomedical informatics solution for their organization. This experience will push you into discovery, challenge you with problem-based work, and have an immediate and positive impact on your career. 

Students can register and complete the Capstone program throughout the last three-quarters of the master's program.

You have options. Pick your concentration in Biomedical Informatics at UChicago

One of the key advantages of UChicago's program is that we offer customized curricula so you can experience a more diverse education and explore which areas of biomedical informatics you would like to focus on. You can choose from a variety of elective courses as well as one of our four concentrations—all of which can help you stand out in this exciting and burgeoning field.

Students can select one of the following concentrations:

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Bioinformatics allows you to dig into genomic and other biological data while working with DNA and RNA.

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With Clinical Informatics, you can use data across clinical systems that will provide the whole picture of a patient's health.

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Health Delivery Sciences allows you to explore the interconnectedness of systems and processes involved in real-world operations and research techniques critical to improving how people receive healthcare.

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The Population Health Informatics concentration will help you unlock solutions in clinical data that can transform healthcare for large populations and solve problems on a wide scale.

Laptop requirements

All students must have a laptop with an updated operating system (OS). Students may need laptops with more memory and/or storage based on the courses taken. Most of our instructors use a Windows OS and may not be able to help troubleshoot software issues on other OS machines.