Health Informatics Graduate Degree

[Blush000]

Hi All,

I am interested in getting a MS in Health Informatics. It seems to be an interesting and new field with tons of opportunities. However, the opportunities seem to be more geared toward nurses. I am not a nurse but I would love to pursue this as a career. My background is in psychology but I have administrative experience. Am I incorrect in thinking that this field is more focused toward nurses, or if I pursued a degree in Health Informatics would I be on an equal playing field when pursuing a position? What experience is typically looked for by employers for entry level candidates? Why is is geared toward nurses? Is this field expected to grow? Thanks!

[Blush000]

Bump...anyone have any advice?

[rninformatics, DNP, RN]

You wrote you're "interested" and that there are a "ton of opportunities" so I am assuming you've done some research???

There are all kinds of clinicians and non-clinicians practicing within the field of health informatics. Yes there are more opportunities for experienced practioners (nurses, lab techs, pharamacists, physicians, etc), however there are enough opportunities for everyone. You may have to start in an entry level position but there currently is plenty of work to go around.

Having done your research you'd have some idea what ARRA and meaninful use are and how they are currently contributing to the increased need for health, nursing, medical and clinical informatics professions, correct?

What exactly do you want to do in health informatics?

In order to answer your last 3 questions why dont you do some research.........

Do a search on Indeed.com and or Monster.com using the terms "health informatics", "health care information systems", "clinical information systems", etc and see exactly what experience employers are looking for. Why do you think a hireing manager would be looking more so for a nurse or a pharmacisit for a particular position? What this field does require is critical thinking skills and the ability to be proactive in seeking out knowledge...........those are also skills a hiring manager looks for.

Bump back........

Good Luck

Hi All,

I am interested in getting a MS in Health Informatics. It seems to be an interesting and new field with tons of opportunities. However, the opportunities seem to be more geared toward nurses. I am not a nurse but I would love to pursue this as a career. My background is in psychology but I have administrative experience. Am I incorrect in thinking that this field is more focused toward nurses, or if I pursued a degree in Health Informatics would I be on an equal playing field when pursuing a position? What experience is typically looked for by employers for entry level candidates? Why is is geared toward nurses? Is this field expected to grow? Thanks!

[mariafh]

Another place to check is the job mine at HIMSS. www.himss.org They list healthcare informatics positions and it can tell you what type of backgrounds are appropriate. There are many people in healthcare informatics who first started off as IT people with an interest in healthcare, as was already mentioned.

[Blush000]

Thank you guys I will look into that.