Featured physician: James McGhee, MD

This week's featured physician is James McGhee, MD. He is a student enrolled in the Northwestern University Master of Science in Medical Informatics online program. Here's his testimonial (appeared in a recent e-mail promoting the Northwestern University Master of Science in Medical Informatics program):

"With extensive involvement of the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern's MMI program does an excellent job of combining the clinical and IT components of medical informatics. After practicing medicine for 25 years as an ENT, I'm using the program to launch my second career as a chief medical information officer or consultant to a medical informatics software vendor."  James McGhee, MD, student

The Northwestern University Master of Science in Medical Informatics online program is designed for clinical health professionals and IT professionals in the health care field.

Offered in partnership with Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, the program focuses on the use of technology to improve the design, integration, implementation, management and evaluation of enterprise-wide health care information systems. Graduates of this online program will be poised to become leaders in clinical information technology, research and education, and health care administration.

Learn more about how you can advance your career by earning a Northwestern University Master of Science in Medical Informatics degree. Click here for more information.

Career Opportunities with a Medical Informatics Degree

I'm on the mailing list for the Master of Science in Medical Informatics program offered at Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies. In the most recent e-mail, the subject line said: "Career Opportunities with a Medical Informatics Degree." Seems like a very appropriate topic for this site. Here's a segment from that e-mail:

The Master of Science in Medical Informatics program offered at Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies is a great platform for discovering new and expanded career opportunities.

Graduates with a Master's degree in medical informatics will learn valuable information that would be helpful when seeking careers in the following areas:

• Clinical IT Leadership
• Research
• Education
• Health Care Administration and Management
• Consulting
• Product design and development

Whether your background is in computing, 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.

The curriculum is designed for a diverse audience of students, including 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.

The online program format is tailored to meet the needs of working professionals. Our flexible scheduling and admissions deadlines help you earn your degree without putting your life on hold.

To learn more about the program at Northwestern University, visit:
http://www.medinformatics.northwestern.edu/

Kellogg Executive Education

Physicians are often too busy to enroll in full-time business programs, but executive programs can be appealing because they cater to busy schedules. Kellogg has some great programs. Here's a little intro about Kellogg at Northwestern University: 

Executive Education at the Kellogg School is the most direct way to make an immediate impact on the practice of management. Our unique approach to executive education focuses on creating a collaborative learning environment. This experience inspires program participants to put new ideas into action to meet today’s toughest business challenges.

They offer an executive MBA, but they also have some open enrollment programs that focus on management, leadership, strategy, and more.  Several of my good friends are graduates of Kellogg and we've explored several health consulting opportunities together. To learn more about some of these executive education opportunities, click here to visit the Kellogg Executive Education website.

Top universities providing online graduate degrees

There are some top universities providing distance learning (or online) degrees. What does this say about the concept of distance learning? If top universities like Johns Hopkins and Stanford are willing to provide online degrees, then does this support the idea that online graduate degrees are equivalent to degrees obtained on campus?

• Stanford University offers an online masters program in biomedical informatics
• Johns Hopkins University offers a distance-learning master of public health
• Northwestern University offers an online master of science in medical informatics
• New York University (NYU) offers an online master of science in management and systems
• Duke University offers an online master of environmental management

I think it's fair to say that we'll see other top universities that will eventually offer online graduate degrees. I doubt that all of them will, but the trend will gradually change as universities recognize that certain programs can be delivered effectively online.

The online graduate degree that interests me the most right now is the Northwestern University Master of Science in Medical Informatics (MMI). Maybe you know some physicians who are currently enrolled in this program.

10 Reasons to Earn Your Master of Science in Medical Informatics

I got this e-mail the other day and I thought it would be helpful to share this information. This is not meant to be an advertisement for an online degree program. Instead, I wanted to address some of the questions I often encounter regarding formal education and training in the world of health IT. Here's the body of the e-mail:

The arrival of the New Year has always been a time for reflecting on the past, and more importantly, looking forward to the coming year. It's a time to reflect on the changes we want to make and resolve to follow through on those changes.

Make furthering your education part of your New Year resolution by earning a Master of Science in Medical Informatics from Northwestern University.

Here are a few reasons to note:
1. Professional Stability - Earn your graduate degree while maintaining your current employment position
2. Advancement - Earning a graduate degree will position you for a leadership position
3. Immersion - Leverage your work experience in the fields of health care and IT
4. Influence - Graduate with the ability to facilitate standards for the proper management of medical information
5. Network - Experience the value of studying with other leading health informatics professionals
6. Distinguished - Study with leaders in partnership with the world-renowned Feinberg School of Medicine
7. Faculty - Learn from doctoral-level faculty who provide support and direction throughout the program
8. Flexibility - Manage your study and coursework schedule around your current lifestyle
9. Commitment - We are committed to your success and the advancement of the Medical Informatics profession
10. Financial Aid - Opportunity to apply for aid is available to all program applicants

Graduate by this time in two years with your Master of Science in Medical Informatics online from Northwestern University.

So, do you feel motivated to pursue some formal education and training in medical informatics? You can learn more about the Master of Science in Medical Informatics online from Northwestern University by clicking here.

On a side note: I almost attended Northwestern University for college. It was #2 and MIT was #1. Fortunately, I was accepted to my first choice, so I ended up in Boston instead of Chicago. Sometimes I wonder how my life would have changed if I had gone to Northwestern. Who would I have married? (I met my wife at MIT)

Medical Informatics Training

If you're a physician, at what point do you need "formal training" in medical informatics if you wish to pursue a career in health IT?

It's hard to answer, because it largely depends on how motivated you are to self-learn. Have you been keeping up with all the recent changes in health IT? Are you familiar with health IT language? Are you a member of HIMSS? Are you tech-savvy? Have you been actively involved in your hospital's health IT committee? Do you hold any certifications in health IT?

You're probably not going to find a "crash course" on health IT that will teach you everything you need to know in a very short amount of time. However, if you're willing to invest some time and energy into formal education, then you may want to take a look at some programs that leverage distance-learning and online classrooms.

If you're interested in pursuing a Master of Science in Medical Informatics, then I would suggest the program at Northwestern University that is offered in partnership with the Feinberg School of Medicine.

Northwestern University's Master of Science in Medical Informatics program gives individuals with information technology backgrounds and clinically trained health professionals the knowledge and experience needed to apply their talents to careers in information services organizations within hospitals, health systems, academic environments, and the health systems and equipment industry. This interdisciplinary professional program aims to blend computing and clinical skills in the emerging field of medical informatics. The curriculum recognizes the complexities and academic demands of the field and emphasizes the specific technical requirements of the profession without training its students too narrowly. Graduates are able to understand and affect developments in the medical informatics field from a technical, theoretical, and managerial perspective.

The nice thing about distance learning is that you can take courses from anywhere. I almost went to Northwestern University for my undergrad. I ended up at MIT instead. However, I think I would have been very happy at Northwestern. Chicago is a great city.