Biomedical and Health Informatics

The PhD in Biomedical and Health Informatics (BHI) program at UIC prepares future academicians and health care industry leaders to advance the discovery and application of new ideas that enable complex decision-making and promote the introduction of health information technology. Today's decision-making is increasingly driven by data and collaborative practice, while health information technology is simultaneously productive and disruptive.

This program is structured to be delivered face-to-face, full-time, using an extensive mentorship model. It is contemporary in terms of technology-based learning, with a small number of courses delivered online or in a blended model.

By design, this PhD:

• Develops interdisciplinary teamwork skills through interprofessional education;
• Cultivates emotional intelligence for career success in a complex industry;
• Encourages cultural competence to recognize the role culture (organizational, health professional or patient culture) plays in team-based, patient-centric care across care settings across the life span; and
• Promotes engaged scholarship to contribute to more efficient delivery mechanisms to reform health care.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

• Develop scholars to solve the complex knowledge management issues facing the health care industry along two foci—systems science and social/organizational science–through collaborative interactions involving academia, industry and health care entities;
• Build scholars with capacity and expertise along the continuum of informatics, having sufficient knowledge of discipline language and workflow to enable them to work comfortably in, across, and at the interstices of the health care disciplines; and
• Produce engaged scholars able to advance a discipline continually exposed to disruptive innovation in technology and regulation.

In addition to the Graduate College minimum requirements, students must meet the following program requirements:

• Minimum Semester Hours Required 96 beyond the baccalaureate.
• Course Work Students entering with an MS in Health Informatics earned at UIC may be allowed a maximum of 32 credit hours toward the PhD, depending on the electives taken. These students will develop an academic course plan, with approval of their primary advisor, that ensures their completion of any remaining core courses required, as well as additional elective course work in one or both tracks to fulfill the remaining course credit hours required for the PhD.

• Examinations 
  • Preliminary Examination: Required. A written and oral test of core competencies is required to evaluate the student's knowledge of the broad area of biomedical and health informatics and his or her specific content area. All students must take an examination prepared individually by the examination committee following the completion of all course work.
  • Dissertation Proposal Examination: Required. Upon completion of the comprehensive preliminary exam, the dissertation proposal must be defended before the student's dissertation committee (committee approved by the Graduate College).
  • Dissertation Defense: Required. A written dissertation with oral defense at a public session before the dissertation committee and other members of the academic community is required.
• Dissertation Required. Students must earn 40 to 48 semester hours in BHIS 599. Each student will be required to present two research seminars prior to graduation (mid-thesis and public PhD thesis presentation). Students must be registered during the semester of intended graduation.

Requirements

• Prior Degrees Master's degree in health informatics or related field is preferred. Transfer of graduate credits from another institution will be handled on a course-by-course basis. The complete prior credits transfer process is described on the Graduate College web page. Exceptional applicants who have completed a Bachelor of Science degree in health informatics or a related field, and wish to pursue a PhD will be considered for “Direct PhD Admission.” Such students will pursue the PhD degree without the requirement of first completing a master's degree. Direct PhD Admission is competitive. For fullest consideration, any student seeking admission should adhere to the early deadlines listed on the Graduate College website.

• Grade Point Average At least 3.00/4.00 for the final 60 semester (90 quarter) hours of undergraduate study and for all graduate degrees. In addition to the previous requirements, the cumulative GPA for any graduate-level course work must be at least 3.00/4.00.
• Tests Required GRE General Test with a minimum score of 152 (56th percentile) on the verbal and 151 (56th percentile) on the quantitative sections. GRE scores must be dated within five years of the candidate's application.
• Minimum English Competency Test Score All international students are required to submit Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), IELTS (International English Language Testing System), or PTE-Academic scores.
  • TOEFL If the applicant has taken the paper-based TOEFL, minimum scores in the range of 585–600 will be considered; in addition, the applicant must take the Test of Written English and submit scores in the range of 5–6. Applicants taking the iBT Internet-based TOEFL must have a minimum score of 95, with subscores of Reading 24, Listening 22, Speaking 24, and Writing 24, OR,
  • IELTS 7.0, with subscores of 6.5 for all four subscores, OR,
  • PTE-Academic 54, with subscores of Reading 51, Listening 47, Speaking 53, and Writing 56.
• Letters of Recommendation Three required, must be on letterhead. Recommenders should explain the context in which they have worked with and know the person about whom they are writing a recommendation. Recommenders should explore the student’s scholarly abilities, professionalism, organizational skills, and provide any other insights into the applicant’s qualities that demonstrate the applicant’s suitability for work at the doctorate level.
• Personal Statement Required. The statement should address the applicant’s goals for graduate study, career development, teaching, and research experience.
• Current Curriculum Vitae Required. Include scholarly activities and publications to date.
• Other Requirements Successful completion, before enrollment, of required courses equivalent to a course in basic computer programming (process-oriented advanced languages, such as C, Pascal, BASIC, Cobol, FORTRAN, Ada, Lisp, Smalltalk, Prolog, etc.; and/or object-oriented advanced languages, such as C++, C#, and Java; and/or web-based scripting languages, such as Perl, JavaScript, Python, PHP, and Ruby). The computer programming prerequisite may also be fulfilled, with permission of the Director of Graduate Studies, through completion of a nationally recognized MOOC (with proof through a signed letter). This prerequisite may be waived for those with comparable experience.
  Prerequisites courses HIM 486 and BHIS 406 (waived for those with clinical experience or for those who pass proficiency exams). These prerequisite courses are available online and are taught each semester including summer session. The proficiency exam is in current use and is available through the Director of Graduate Studies.

Want to improve your English level for admission?

Prepare for the program requirements with English Online by the British Council.

• ✔️ Flexible study schedule
• ✔️ Experienced teachers
• ✔️ Certificate upon completion

📘 Recommended for students with an IELTS level of 6.0 or below.

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Scholarships

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