UCD School of Medicine and School of

Public Health, Physiotherapy & Sports Science

Graduate Certificate/Graduate Diploma/MSc in

Healthcare Informatics
COURSE FEATURES COURSE DETAILS
eHealth (Electronic Health) involves the integration of all information Major code Grad Cert: X912/Grad Dip: X293/MSc: X523
and knowledge sources involved in the delivery of healthcare via
information technology-based systems. This includes patients and their Graduate Certificate: normally one trimester
records, caregivers and their systems, monitoring devices and sensors, Duration Graduate Diploma: normally two trimesters
management and administrative functions. It is a fully integrated digital MSc: 12-16 months
‘supply chain’ and involves high levels of automation and information
sharing. Schedule Full-Time/Part-Time
The EU eHealth Action Plan 2012-2020, states that “eHealth can
benefit citizens, patients, health and care professionals but also health Next intake September
organisations and public authorities. eHealth - when applied effectively
- delivers more personalised ‘citizen-centric’ healthcare, which is more In Dec 2013 the Department of Health launched the eHealth Strategy
targeted, effective and efficient and helps reduce errors, as well as the for Ireland. This document identified the skills shortage in this area
length of hospitalisation. It facilitates socio-economic inclusion and stating that “the current skills base for eHealth is not encouraging
equality, quality of life and patient empowerment through greater in two respects: (i) The “installed base” of active professionals with
transparency, access to services and information and the use of social eHealth skills is very small and (ii) the relevant capacity within the 3rd
media for health”. level education and research sector is small”. It also identified that the
current and anticipated skills deficit existing at different levels, ranging
from entry-level technicians and support staff to cross-trained clinicians
(nurses and doctors), eHealth management and ICT professionals,
eHealth researchers and product development specialists. An underlying
problem is the low number of eHealth academic specialists who are an
essential resource in both: (1) the provision of Health Informatics training
across the country, and (2) the establishment of an R&D base and source
of eHealth innovation. This situation is unchanged today.
UCD is offering an MSc, Graduate Diploma, and Graduate Certificate
in Healthcare Informatics, joining the expertise of a number of Schools
including Medicine, Computer Science; Statistics; and Public Health,
Physiotherapy and Sports Science. All of these Schools have significant
experience in the training of multi-disciplinary students. The curriculum
for these programmes have been developed on international best
practice, service requirements and end-user preferences and will be
continually updated and modified to ensure the needs of these three
elements from a course basis are always met.
COURSE CONTENT & STRUCTURE COURSE DELIVERY
The course content will be delivered via a combination of on-line /
X912: Graduate Certificate blended modules and week-long blocks. The lecturers will come from
Healthcare Informatics (30 ECTS) both the University and the Health Service to ensure an appropriate
This course consists of four modules covering a total of 30 credits. mix of theory and application in the content.
These modules are:
Core: WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE?
» Clinical Information & Decision Support Systems 10 ECTS The course is primarily aimed at existing employees in the health
service and IT industry sector who are looking to move into the area
» Biostatistics and Data Management 10 ECTS of Health Informatics, expand their current knowledge in the area,
» Medical Records 5 ECTS or get more involved in health IT implementation projects in their
respective work locations. The assignments for the various modules
Options: are primarily focused on work-based topics, with these assignments
» Data Programming with R 5 ECTS being undertaken primarily as group or team work. This team-based
process mirrors the actuality of IT systems implementation projects
» Artificial Intelligence in Health 5 ECTS
or health data / business intelligence analysis in this sector.

X293: Graduate Diploma ELIGIBILITY

Healthcare Informatics (60 ECTS) Applicants will normally hold a NQF Level 8 academic award.
In addition to the modules listed under the Graduate Certificate Where an applicant does not hold a Level 8 award, consideration
programme, the candidates will complete an additional 30 ECTS will be given to those with relevant and appropriate qualifications
made up as follows: and experience working in or closely with the health system.
Core (15 ECTS): Such candidates may be interviewed to ensure applicability to the
programme prior to acceptance. Candidates who may enter via this
» Information Visualisation 5 ECTS route would typically be those currently employed but looking to
» Interoperability, Standards & XML 5 ECTS change the focus of their career into the Health Informatics arena, or
those that have health experience but are currently unemployed and
» Information Governance in Health 5 ECTS
looking to re-enter the workforce in the HI field.
Options (15 ECTS):
The candidate selects 2-3 modules totalling 15 ECTS from the list COST / FEES
below. Please follow the link below for information on fees.
» Health Data – What is it and where does it 5 ECTS » www.ucd.ie/students/fees
come from?
» Corporate Information Systems in Health 5 ECTS SPRINGBOARD
» Informatics Systems Implementation in Health 5 ECTS 20 places on the Graduate Diploma
» Human Computer Interfaces 5 ECTS are government funded under the
Human Capital Initiative (HCI) via the
» Artificial Intelligence in Health 5 ECTS Springboard.ie website. The following are
» Data Programming with R 5 ECTS eligible to apply for courses in 2020/21
academic year (subject to the applicant
» Personalised Medicine 5 ECTS
meeting all requirements, e.g. academic requirements):
» Data Mining in Health 5 ECTS
• Returners (formerly referred to as Homemakers): May apply
» Medical Devices and their connectivity 5 ECTS to all courses if they meet the nationality/visa requirement and
» Clinical Biomarkers 5 ECTS residency criteria
» Bioinformatics 5 ECTS • People in employment: May apply to all courses if they meet the
nationality/visa requirement and residency criteria.
» AI for Pathology and Histopathology 10 ECTS
• The unemployed or formerly self-employed: All courses are
» AI for Medical Image Analysis 10 ECTS
open to these categories of applicants, with the exception of the
two-year part-time ICT conversion courses which are not open to
X523: MSc those in receipt of a Jobseekers-related payment.
Depending on your situation, the fees are provided in full or
Healthcare Informatics (90 ECTS) subsidised. For more information, and to apply, please visit
In addition to the modules listed under the Graduate Diploma www.springboardcourses.ie
programme, the candidates will complete an additional 30 ECTS
Research / Dissertation module.

CONTACT More information on this course:

Programme Administrator www.ucd.ie/medicine
UCD Health Sciences Centre
Email: [email protected] Apply for this course:
Tel: +353 1 716 6634 www.ucd.ie/apply