Medical Informatics Online Program Overview

Program Overview

Created in partnership with the Feinberg School of Medicine, the Master's in Medical Informatics program (MMI) provides the knowledge and experience needed for information technology professionals or clinically trained health professionals to become leaders in the emerging field of medical informatics. To reach a broad national and international audience, the Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies (SCS) offers the medical informatics degree program in both an on-campus and an online format. This flexibility allows health information technology or medical technology professionals to pursue a degree that can help them achieve their professional goals.

This growing field will transform healthcare, patient information systems, health information systems, academic environments, and the health systems and equipment industry.

This interdisciplinary professional program aims to blend the computing and clinical skills needed in the field of medical informatics. Our master's degree recognizes the complexities and academic demands of the field.

The program emphasizes the specific technical requirements of the profession without too narrowly training its students. Graduates will be able to understand and effect developments in the medical informatics field from a technical, theoretical, and managerial perspective. SCS students may earn the stand-alone informatics degree while the joint MD/MMI degree is an option for current Feinberg School students.

If you have any questions about the program or the application process, please call the MMI Enrollment Advisor at (877) 664-3347 or click here to request more information.

Northwestern is the natural choice for students who wish to receive superior education at a nationally recognized research institution. Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Evanston Northwestern Healthcare have both been awarded "most wired" status by Health Care's Most Wired magazine.

The MMI program's delivery options make it convenient and flexible for both full-time students and working professionals. The MMI online option offers the same challenging curriculum as the on-campus option in an entirely online medium, using a combination of synchronous and asynchronous media, teleconferencing and online collaboration tools.

The MMI program offers students access to established leaders in health care informatics from the metropolitan Chicago community, including academic appointees as well as physicians in private practice who are early successful adopters of ambulatory medical records. Students who want to improve the overall quality of health care in the United States will find Chicago institutions to be leaders in the fields of clinical decision support and quality reporting.

Who should be an MMI student?

The MMI curriculum is designed for a diverse audience of students. It caters to health care professionals such as doctors, clinicians, administrators, educators, and researchers, as well as information technology professionals and other qualified individuals who wish to transition into this growing field.

Graduates of the MMI program will have the skills to fill positions in health care information technology across the entire spectrum of health care delivery: independent physicians' practices that need consultants to implement and maintain their electronic health records as well as hospitals beginning implementation of COE and integrated delivery systems. Graduates also have the skills to enter the growing field of health information exchange, which includes provider-centric regional health information organizations (RHIOs) and patient-centric models based on the emerging personal health records systems.

Whether your background is in computing or information technology, health care or the life sciences, this program will build on your expertise and prepare you for the new challenges of the medical informatics field.

Feinberg School of Medicine students can take advantage of the program's flexible course schedule in order to earn a joint degree (MD/MMI) while completing their studies in medicine. A special tuition rate for current Feinberg medical students is available.

A non-degree option is also available for students who wish only to take a select number of courses for professional enhancement, whether they pursue the online or on-campus option.