Join our online health informatics course and learn to handle healthcare data.

There’s rapid growth in the digital capture of information through patient records, health-monitoring devices and more.

But what do we do with this huge volume of data? How can it help us understand the health of individuals and populations?

In this Masters-level online short course, you’ll earn in-demand skills that enable you work with Big Data in health care.

With expert guidance from leading health researchers, ranked top in Scotland for public health research, you’ll:

  • find out how to capture, link together, and analyse large datasets
  • learn how we can use health informatics to improve public health
  • explore the legal and ethical challenges that data collectors face.

This flexible online course fits around full-time work.

Build credits towards a Masters degree

This online course is part of:

You can use the credits you earn on this short course towards any of these postgraduate qualifications.

What you’ll study

You’ll study the breadth of health informatics, exploring ways to use health informatics research to improve public health and healthcare.

As well as learning the key methodological considerations, you’ll examine the legal and ethical challenges involved in the collection of personal health data.

You’ll cover these core concepts:

  • Data sources
  • Data gathering
  • Data quality
  • Ethics and governance
  • Linkage
  • Data specification

You’ll gain the skills and knowledge to undertake basic data linkage and health informatics research yourself.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to…

  • Describe the relevance of health informatics to research, public health and care.
  • Identify key data resources for understanding health.
  • Undertake and understand the principles of data linkage.
  • Produce a data specification for a data linkage study.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the ethical, confidentiality, data protection and information governance issues relating to health informatics research and population statistics.
  • Communicate health informatics from routine health data.

How you’ll study

Online learning

This distance-learning health informatics course is delivered flexibly, 100% online.

You can learn with us anywhere, no student visa required, and manage your study hours to suit you.

Your teaching

This course is taught at Masters level.

Teaching is delivered through MyAberdeen, our online Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It holds all the materials, tools and support you’ll need in your studies. Take a look around MyAberdeen.

You can access your learning materials on computer, smartphone and laptop, 24 hours a day. You’ll find a range of resources available, including:

  • recorded sessions
  • videos to stream or download
  • reading materials
  • discussion boards with your tutors and peers
  • the online resources of our award-winning Sir Duncan Rice Library.

This course is delivered across seven units. Each unit is delivered by a tutor who is an expert in their unit topic.

The first week of your course will be pre-course reading, and your final week will be revision for your final online assessment.

Your tutors

This course is delivered by our School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition.

You’ll learn from a team of practising health informatics researchers from our Institute of Applied Health Sciences.

This course is assessed entirely online.

During your course, you’ll be assessed via:

  • a set of multiple-choice questions on information governance
  • a task to develop a research question.

And at the end of your course, you’ll have:

  • a one-hour, short-answer online test on key concepts (worth 20% of your final grade)
  • a data linkage protocol and data specification written report, 2,000 words (60%)
  • a communicating-with-data exercise, creating a one-minute podcast or one-page graphical or narrative ‘data story’ (20%).

The course totals approximately 150 hours of study and assessment time. That’s around 10 – 15 hours per week.

This is an indicative guide to the time required for a typical student at this level to achieve the learning outcomes. This includes time for independent study, as well as teaching and assessments.

You can largely set your own study hours each week to cover the materials. MyAberdeen is available 24/7, so you can log in and study when it suits you.

Activities at fixed times

There may be some activities scheduled for fixed times, such as assessments with deadlines or online meetings with your tutor. But otherwise, you can access and work through the course at your convenience.

Our first-class support structure will ensure that you aren’t alone in your studies. You’ll have contact with your course coordinator throughout your course. This could be by email, MyAberdeen, online call, or phone. You can use social media and discussion boards to chat with your fellow students too.

We provide a wide range of services to support you in your studies and beyond:

Wherever you are in the world, you’ll feel part of our very special Aberdeen learning community.

Your course coordinator

Professor Lesley Anderson

Lesley is the Chair in Health Data Science in our School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition. Lesley has over 20 years’ experience in harnessing health data to research cancer and chronic disease epidemiology.

View Lesley’s profile

Where this will take you

Towards a Masters

You’ll earn 15 credits at Masters level (SCQF Level 11) with this course. You can use these credits towards our:

Master of Public Health (MPH)

Join an online Master of Public Health (MPH) you can tailor to your career. Study with experts and choose from a wide range of courses to focus your training. 10% discount for NHS staff.

View Master of Public Health (MPH)

Masters in Applied Health Sciences

Fast-track your career in healthcare with our uniquely flexible MSc Applied Health Sciences. Study 100% online or combine with on-campus courses at our Foresterhill Health Campus. 10% discount for NHS staff.

View MSc Applied Health Sciences

Masters in Clinical Nutrition

Join an online Nutrition degree accredited by the Association for Nutrition. Study the link between diet and health, and how issues of over and undernutrition affect populations today. 10% discount for NHS staff.

View MSc Clinical Nutrition

Masters in Health Data Science

Develop your skills in health data science, whether your background’s in healthcare or computing, with this flexible online MSc.

View MSc Health Data Science

Masters in Health Economics for Health Professionals

Advance your career in health. Develop sought-after research skills and build your knowledge of health economics tools and principles. 10% discount for NHS staff.

View MSc Health Economics for Health Professionals

Build your learning with more short courses

We have a range of online healthcare and medicine short courses you can use to earn in-demand skills.

Many carry credits you can build up into postgraduate qualifications, including Masters degrees:

Careers

The demand for health researchers with training and experience in health informatics is high, and for professionals in public health it is a key skill.

You’ll gain a strong career advantage as a researcher or health professional.

This course will equip you for any career in health research or public health practice, and is a perfect first step if you’re looking to develop a specialist interest in this field.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Your employer or professional institute may recognise this course for CPD hours. Talk to your employer or institute to find out more.

Free career support

Access our free careers service while you study.

  • 1:1 appointments
  • CV checks
  • Interview prep
  • Job opportunities

See how our careers service can help you.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements

We welcome students from all over the world.

This course has no formal entry requirements. You do not need to provide proof of your qualifications.

But you do need to check the entry guidance above to understand the level of teaching delivered, to decide if this course is right for you.

If you do not have qualifications from the UK, check the equivalent teaching level for your country.

Visa requirements

You do not need a student visa to study online with us.

English language requirements

Teaching is delivered in English.

You do not have to provide proof of your English language skills to join this course. But we want to make sure that you can use English well enough to study successfully.

Recommended level of English

This course uses our Postgraduate Higher level of English language proficiency.

These are our Postgraduate Higher requirements, and these are minimum scores.

IELTS Academic, IELTS UKVI Academic, and IELTS Online (not IELTS Indicator or IELTS General Training)

  • 6.5 overall
  • 5.5 for listening and speaking
  • 6.0 for reading and writing

TOEFL iBT and TOEFL iBT Home Edition

  • 90 overall
  • 17 for listening
  • 21 for reading
  • 20 for speaking
  • 21 for writing
  • TOEFL DI code is 0818

Cambridge English: B2 First, C1 Advanced, or C2 Proficiency

  • 176 overall
  • 162 for listening and speaking
  • 169 for reading and writing

LanguageCert Academic/LanguageCert Academic SELT

  • 70 overall
  • 60 for listening and speaking
  • 65 for reading and writing

LanguageCert International ESOL B2 Communicator (Written and Spoken) – Online / In-centre

  • Overall High Pass
  • 33 for listening, reading and speaking
  • 38 for writing

Oxford ELLT Digital – English Language Level Test Online

  • 7.0 overall
  • 5.0 for listening and speaking
  • 6.0 for reading and writing

PTE Academic (online test not accepted)

  • 62 overall
  • 59 for listening, reading, speaking and writing

Duolingo tests taken from 1 July 2024 onward

  • 120 overall
  • 95 for listening and speaking
  • 105 for reading and writing

University of Aberdeen English Pre-sessional Programme (PSE)

  • Pass
  • Valid for one year. Refresher can be offered if out of date

Pre-sessional academic English preparation programmes undertaken at other UK universities

  • Pass at an equivalent of 6.5 (C1)
  • B2 in all four skills
  • Certification must be within one year prior to the start of your course

For more information about language qualifications see our English Language Requirements page.

You will need access to:

A computer (PC, laptop or Mac) operating on either:

  • Windows 10 or later
  • macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later.

Most teaching materials are smartphone- and tablet-friendly. But we recommend a proper laptop or desktop for completing assignments comfortably.

Reliable internet access

We recommend:

  • a wired connection
  • a minimum download speed of 2 Mbps so you can take part fully in live sessions.

Speakers or headphones

  • We recommend a headset with built-in microphone and earphones if you’re likely to study in an environment with background noise.
  • A webcam is optional, but you may like to use one for some interactive sessions.

Software

We’ll give you access to Office365 applications. This means you can use online versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and install these programs on up to five personal devices.

If your course requires specialist software, we’ll provide you with access to this and a licence that lasts throughout your studies.

See our detailed IT requirements for more information.

When you study with us, you can expect a first-class support structure so that you’re never alone in your studies.

But learning online does mean you have to motivate yourself and manage your own time.

Your most important commitment will be time – the time to work through, reflect on and understand your teaching materials.

Before you start a course that involves a high degree of independent study, we recommend looking at the time you will be able to devote to your studies each week:

  • Be realistic
  • Create a weekly schedule as a guide

If you have any questions about studying online, get in touch with our friendly team. We’re here to help.

Fee payment

Your course fee needs to be paid in full before you start your course.

We accept payment via Visa Debit, Visa Credit and Mastercard.

Ways to save

You may be able to get help funding this course via:

  • discounts – if any discounts are available for this course, they’ll appear in the section below
  • employer sponsorship – we accept full and partial fee payments from sponsors.

Find out more about funding options.

Student card

All our students are entitled to a University of Aberdeen student card. This gives you access to a range of student discounts around the city and online.

This course has no formal entry requirements. You decide if it’s suitable for you.

The course is delivered at Masters level. At this level, you’d usually have at least:

  • a 2:2 UK undergraduate degree (or equivalent), or
  • relevant experience that supports this level of study.

Apply for this course

Start date
27 January 2025
Cost
£1,290
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