23
COM Outlook . Winter 2015
WHAT WE’RE D.O.ING
Biomedical Informatics
Program Continues to
Lead the Way
By Debra R. Gibbs, B.A.
Medical Communications Coordinator
n 2006, the Master of
Science in Biomedical
Informatics (M.S.B.I.)
degree program—the only
biomedical informatics
program in existence at
an osteopathic medical
school—was established
in collaboration with
NSU’s Graduate School of
Computer and Informa-
tion Science. Those eight
years seem light years
away when we consider
the meteoric growth of
the program—from 3
students in 2006 to nearly
200 today. NSU-COM’s
Biomedical Informatics
Program leads the profes-
sion in the evolution of the
health care environment,
uniting technological and
medical advancements to
maximize efficiency, de-
liver services, and develop
research pathways.
The Biomedical Infor-
matics Program—led by
its director Jennie Q. Lou,
M.D., M.Sc., professor of
biomedical informatics,
public health, and inter-
nal medicine—currently
comprises 191 students
and 31 faculty members.
The program trains pro-
fessionals in the develop-
ment, dissemination, and
evaluation of information
technology as it relates to
the health care environ-
ment—including hospi-
tals, health care delivery
systems, health informa-
tion technology system
vendors, ehealth compa-
nies, insurers, pharma-
ceutical companies, and
academic institutions.
The program’s fully
online format enables
working professionals to
earn a master’s degree
without career disrup-
tion. Students may also
pursue an M.S.N. in
Nursing Informatics or
Graduate Certificate in
Public Health Informatics
or Medical Informatics. A
diverse student body hails
from 23 nations, includ-
ing the United States,
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan,
Puerto Rico, Bahamas,
Colombia, Haiti, Jamaica,
Brazil, Canada, Cuba,
India, Mexico, Nigeria,
Spain, Sudan, Sweden,
Taiwan, United Kingdom,
and Uzbekistan. For those
I
