Ph.D. in Health Informatics

Degree Requirements

Back to Health Informatics

CORE A — Foundations of Informatics (12 credit hours)

Every student will take four courses (12 credit hours) from the following list:

CORE B — Health Domain (12 credit hours)

Required Seminar Courses (3 credit hours)

Electives (9 credit hours)

Total: 36 course credit hours beyond Masters.

Minor

All students will be required to have an appropriate minor outside or partially inside the school. Minors will be selected with the advisor’s recommendation. The selected minor should be appropriate to the student’s choice of sub discipline within informatics. Some appropriate minors would include biology, chemistry, cognitive psychology, computer science and information science. In all cases the number of hours to be included in the minor will be consistent with the requirements of the unit granting the minor. Some of the courses included in the minor may also count towards other requirements.

Qualifying Examination — Written (Required)

All students will take a written qualifying examination that covers the core courses (CORE A and B). The examination will be set by a group of faculty who are familiar with the content of the core courses. Examinations will be offered in August and January. Examinations must be completed by the beginning of the student’s fourth year in the program but can be completed before that time when the core courses are completed. Students who do not successfully complete the examination can retake the examination a second time.

Qualifying Examination — Oral (Required)

1. The oral examination will take place after the student successfully passes the written exam. Students must pass both the written and oral exam before passing on to candidacy. Only two attempts to pass the oral examination will be allowed.
2. The oral exam will be based on the student’s response to the written exam and any material from the core courses.

Advancement to Candidacy Exam (Required)

The advancement to candidacy exam is oral exam that covers in-depth knowledge of the student’s primary research area. This examination is administered by the student’s program committee. That committee consists of the advisor, a representative from the student’s minor, a faculty member representing the student’s primary research area ( who can be from outside the School of Informatics), and another faculty member of the student’s choosing from the School of Informatics. The examination will normally be completed at the end of the course work, but before the student embarks on the dissertation. The student must pass this examination before passing on o candidacy. Only two attempts to pass this examination will be allowed.

Dissertation Proposal

The research proposal for dissertation must be approved by the student’s research committee. That committee may have the same membership as the program committee or the students may choose different members. The advisor for the dissertation will be a faculty member in the School of Informatics and a member of the Graduate Faculty. At least one the three members of the committee will be based outside of the school. The student will defend the thesis proposal at a public colloquium in the school.

Dissertation (21 to 30 credit hours)

A written elaboration of significant original research, which must be successfully presented to the research committee in a public defense as described in the Graduate School Bulletin.

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