A unique degree in the technology of health care
For the October issue of EDGE, I profiled unique degree programs from colleges and universities around the nation that likely hold special appeal for military students. Left off that list because of a delay in the launch date of the program is a bachelor’s degree in biomedical informatics at Arizona State University.
Originally scheduled to launch for the current fall 2009 semester, start of the program has been delayed until fall 2010. It will be one of the first such comprehensive undergraduate programs of its kind in the nation, said Dr. Robert Greenes, chair of ASU’s Department of Biomedical Informatics.
Biomedical informatics, or BMI, involves the integration of computer and information sciences with basic biological and medical research, clinical practice, medical imaging and public health disciplines. Jobs in the field are available in academia; with pharmaceutical, research or technology companies; and in various sectors of government, Greenes said, with career opportunities expected to grow substantially, thanks to recent health-care reform efforts and the need for use of BMI to improve the nation’s health care system. Indeed, the American Medical Informatics Association anticipates 10,000 new jobs being created in the field by next year.
Greenes said the field of biomedical informatics is custom made for someone exiting the military who possesses both technical and health-care skills. He estimates the first class to enter the program will have between 25-50 students. The first two years of the program will focus on introductions to the four aforementioned areas of BMI, with the last two years of study concentrating on methodology courses, in particular in an area of particular interest to each individual student.
“We want to them to be conversant in all four areas when they graduate,” Greenes said. “They will have a broad knowledge in the field when they come out of it, with some selective knowledge in one area.”
