Certificate Program
Biomedical Informatics Training Certificate Program
The Biomedical Informatics Certificate Program is a 15 credit (minimum) experience. The Certificate program will serve students with a wide variety of goals and backgrounds, including those in the Health Science Libraries' Library/Informatics Traineeship. For this reason, each certificate trainee’s program of study will be developed in collaboration with, and with the approval of, his/her biomedical informatics advisor. The curriculum of all students in this program will have the following general structure:
Foundation Series (7 required credits)
BIOINF 2011: Foundations of Clinical and Public Health Informatics (3 credits)
BIOINF 2051: Foundations of Bioinformatics (3 courses)
BIOINF 2032: Biomedical Informatics Journal Club (1 credit)
Biomedical Informatics Electives and Other Electives (minimum 6 credits)
BIOINF 2016: Foundations of Translational Bioinformatics (3 credits)
BIOINF 2017: Clinical Research Informatics (3 credits)
BIOINF 2052 (CMPBIO 2030): Introduction to Computational Structural Biology (3 credits)
BIOINF 2060 (CMPBIO 2070): Computational Genomics (3 credits)
BIOINF 2101: Probabilistic Methods for Computer-based Decision Support (3 credits)
BIOINF 2110: Concepts of Software Project Engineering in Health Care (3 credits)
BIOINF 2111: Cognitive Studies for Health Informatics (3 credits)
BIOINF 2113: Realtime Outbreak and Disease Surveillance (3 credits)
BIOINF 2117: Applied Medical Informatics (2 credits)
BIOINF 2124: Principles of Global Health Informatics (3 credits)
BIOINF 2125: Informatics and Industry (1 credit)
Research Methods (2-3 credits)
BIOINF 2480: Master’s Level Research Project
The research project should be summarized in a written report commensurate with its scope, as determined by student and his/her biomedical informatics advisor. Students are also required to give an oral presentation of their research project (most do so as a Biomedical Informatics Journal Club or Colloquium presentation, depending on the timing of completion of the requirements of the Certificate program). The student should provide the TP Coordinator and his/her advisor with at least 3 weeks advance notice of the date of the oral presentation. A final written copy of the project must be turned into the TP Coordinator after it has been approved by the student's research advisor. (Note: Final certification of completion of the Certificate requirements will not be given until the TP Coordinator receives an electronic copy of the research project.)
Additional Requirements
- Biomedical Informatics Colloquium (0 credit): The colloquium will showcase presentations from DBMI researchers and invited speakers from across campus and beyond. It will meet weekly for one hour during the Fall and Spring terms. Minimum 75% attendance is required of all trainees.
- Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research: This requirement must be satisfied within the first month of beginning any academic program at the Department Biomedical Informatics through the CITI training modules.
The University of Pittsburgh now requires the completion of CITI training modules for all individuals involved in research. Go to http://www.rcco.pitt.edu/ResearchTrainingRequirements.htm to access the Training for Researchers guidance document. To simplify user access and better track completion of required research courses, we have built a special pathway or portal to access CITI using the current Pitt HSConnect login process. This will allow users and administrators to continue to use the same method to identify which courses have been completed. All new investigators and research team members, including non-Pitt/UPMC investigators, must create an account on the University of Pittsburgh HSConnect site which can be found at: www.hsconnect.pitt.edu. Users must go through the Pitt CITI Access Portal to affiliate with the university as there is no way to directly affiliate with the university from the CITI website. If you completed the CITI training using by selecting UPMC as your participating site, you must still go to the Pitt CITI Access Portal to affiliate with the University of Pittsburgh.
Once you complete the online modules, it is YOUR responsibility to present a copy of your completion certificate to the Training Program Coordinator for your permanent record.
- Conflict of Interest: This requirement must be satisfied within the first month of beginning any academic program at the Department Biomedical Informatics through the CITI training modules.
Login to the Superform Web site: https://coi.hs.pitt.edu, using your HS Connect login. Under “Review & File Your COI Forms,” select “University of Pittsburgh Faculty/Researcher Form” or “University of Pittsburgh Designated Administrator/Staff Form” to begin making your disclosure. Print your signature page and present it to the Training Program Coordinator.
- Attendance at and participation in the Department Biomedical Informatics’ invited special lectures, symposia, conferences, etc., e.g., The Annual Lindberg Lecture and particularly the Annual Training Program Retreat. Such lectures are considered to be important educational experiences, and introduce trainees to the primary researchers and their work in the field of biomedical informatics.