Master of Science

The Master of Science in Clinical Informatics Management program (MCiM) is an intensive, one-year professional master’s degree combining business and technology constructs directed toward our migration to value in health care. MCiM is housed within the Clinical Excellence Research Center in the School of Medicine. The program offers students a unique experience of both remote and weekend onsite sessions to fit the needs of working professionals. Master of Science in Clinical Informatics Management courses provide rich learning experiences for students through a collaborative environment and dynamic course content. Through the coursework, students gain a deep understanding of health informatics and the business insights to accurately leverage technology to succeed in the real world.

COVID-19 has reinforced the longstanding need for leaders who can expertly navigate business, technology, and medicine to manage and drive the digital transformation of a $4.0 trillion health care system. Diverse applications such as telemedicine for routine clinical care and digital radiology for the rapid diagnosis of COVID pneumonia are among some of the opportunities the crisis has highlighted. Others include greater capabilities for remote health monitoring, wearable sensors for monitoring patients, the health of populations on college campuses and in the workforce, and interactive voice-response tools such as Alexa, Siri, or Hey Google to provide new patient care services.

Behind the scenes, machine learning has been rapidly adopted in applications as diverse as screening potential therapies for application to COVID and profiling symptoms that might indicate infection. Failures of the existing health care infrastructure have also been glaringly illustrated by the lack of interoperable data between hospitals and between the public and private sectors, as well as the lack of access to real-time data and reports as the COVID situation rapidly unfolded. Together, these scenarios call for leadership that brings together technology and clinical business units in entirely new ways.

MCiM develops managers and senior leaders who have a keen understanding of the strategic business concepts and data science principles fundamental to raising the quality and efficiency of care delivery, in the COVID era and beyond. The founder of MCiM, Kevin Schulman, Professor of Medicine (Hospital Medicine) and, by courtesy, of Operations, Information and Technology at the Graduate School of Business, built the country’s first clinical informatics management program at Duke University in 2011. Graduates from that program have moved into management and senior leadership roles such as CEO, CIO, CMIO, CHIO, and Health Care IT Director.