Health informatics, also known as biomedical informatics, clinical informatics and health information system, is a discipline that combines computer science, information technology and healthcare. It is a driving force behind redefining healthcare industry and creating tremendous employment opportunities for a new breed of professionals, qualified and interested in both IT and healthcare.

Health informatics plays a critical role in ensuring high standards of patient care at hospitals and clinics. The electronic health records of patients can be quickly accessed whenever required. This helps in understanding the medical history of patients at one go. On the other hand, even patients can contact the hospital when they need any information on prescription refills, test results, etc.

Health informatics is a rapidly evolving field and most hospitals in the North America either have implemented this system or are in process of getting it implemented. This has led to the increase in demand of IT professionals who can develop healthcare software systems suited to the needs of diverse healthcare organizations. In addition to this, it has also resulted in a significant demand of professionals who can work on these systems at healthcare facilities.

Therefore, current can be considered as the right time to build careers in this field. As this is a specialized field, aspiring health informatics professionals will have to undergo a specialized education program. They not only need to acquire skills to work on such systems, but also to design, develop, modify and test healthcare applications.

Healthcare Informatics Education

A healthcare informatics program incorporates the knowledge of both information technology and healthcare systems, preparing students for rewarding careers in this new and evolving discipline. During this program, they will learn to analyze and model data, develop healthcare databases and apply different computer medical-imaging techniques. Besides, they will also learn to use tools, algorithms and health informatics methods for schools, hospitals, healthcare agencies and public health departments.

The three-year post-secondary program emphasizes on object-oriented software methodologies, user-oriented interface design, data security and privacy in healthcare systems, telehealth, and data warehousing and data mining and BI tools in healthcare systems. To help students thoroughly understand the subject, the program also incorporates live software development projects. This allows them to put their classroom learning into practice.

Studying Healthcare Informatics in Toronto

Numerous colleges in Toronto offer post-secondary health informatics courses. Unfortunately, not all are accredited. Centennial College's program in healthcare informatics technology is a fully CIPS/CTAB accredited program. It also incorporates two software development projects, allowing students to utilize their technical and business skills acquired during in-class sessions. The program also helps them develop strong employment skills and prepares them for the world of work even before you are a graduate.

Program graduates can find employment in clinical, research and educational environments as health data analysts, software developers, systems implementation specialists, database developers or business/systems analysts.

Academic Requirements

In order to apply for this course, you will need:

  • Secondary school diploma certificate or equivalent
  • Scores in English Grade 12 C or University or equivalent
  • Scores in Mathematics Grade 11 M or 12 C or University, or equivalent