The Rakai Health Sciences Program provides invaluable information for preventing HIV and other diseases

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Targeting public health professionals currently in practice, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Nursing and the Public Health Data Standards Consortium (PHDSC), is now accepting applications for the Public Health Informatics Training Program. This program results in a Maryland State-approved Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in public health informatics.

The goal of the program is to offer training in methods and concepts of health informatics and health information technology for application to public health. It is designed for current (and future) public health professionals who wish to develop expertise or specialization in this area. Courses for this program are available completely online Individuals residing in the Mid-Atlantic region may also take selected courses on site.

The training program focuses on the following informatics topics:

  • Overview of public health and biomedical informatics
  • Health information systems design and development
  • Health information technology standards and systems interoperability
  • Systems evaluation in health sciences informatics
  • Population health informatics
  • Knowledge engineering, knowledge management and decision support in public health (including spatial analysis and GIS)
  • Real time public health bio-surveillance
  • "mHealth" mobile consumer health application

To complete the training, students will undertake a "practicum," working on a public health informatics project at an organization that will be identified in collaboration with Johns Hopkins faculty.

This training program is also available to the current degree candidates at the Bloomberg School of Public Health who meet the requirements below.

Credits earned in the certificate program may be applied towards other Johns Hopkins degree programs - such as the MPH or informatics MS - if a student is enrolled or accepted into such programs.

On a competitive basis, $10,000 tuition subsidies are available to qualified individuals via a grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

With receipt of the $10,000 subsidy, the total tuition and fees that the student or employer will be required to pay to complete the certificate requirements is approximately $8,800.

Only US citizens or permanent residents not currently employed by the federal government are eligible for the ONC tuition subsidy. Those awarded the subsidy must complete all certificate requirements within 12 months.

Priority for the tuition subsidy will be given to professionals currently employed in the public health field within the U.S. or those intending to enter the domestic public health field The tuition subsidy is not intended for those already working on a full time basis in the public health informatics field All tuition subsidy awards are subject to ONC approval.

The above criteria do not apply to individuals who use other (non-ONC) sources to pay their full tuition (approx. $18,800).

Eligibility requirements for the certificate (with or without the subsidy) include a graduate degree in public health (or current enrollment in such a program) or a bachelor's degree and a minimum of 3 years of direct public health experience.

The next cycle of training will begin in late August 2011, during the 2011/2012 academic year. The application deadline for preferred consideration is February 15, 2011. Applications will be accepted until April 15, 2011.

More information about the Public Health Informatics Certificate Training Program can be found at: http://www.jhsph.edu/dept/hpm/certificates/informatics.

Application forms and instructions are available at this site. Please note that the list of course offerings at this site are subject to change.

If, after reviewing the program web site, you have further questions, please contact Pamela Davis, the program coordinator, at pdavis@jhsph.edu or 410-614-1580.

Please note: As part of the Johns Hopkins University-wide health informatics training, two other programs (with subsidies also funded by the ONC) are available for medical, nursing, information technology, software engineers and clinical management professionals without public health experience. These other programs are hosted at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and School of Nursing. The admission deadline for the next cycle of these certificate programs is February 15, 2011.

Information on the health informatics certificate programs for professionals without public health experience can be found at: http://www.jhu.edu/healthIT