Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Data and Informatics

The programme has been developed by a network of partners with unrivalled experience in healthcare informatics to create a world-leading training environment. 

Aims of the course

The programme will develop individuals with the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to understand and critically evaluate electronic healthcare data in a manner compatible with innovative commercialisation opportunities
The course will:

• Provide professionally relevant teaching and learning of the knowledge and skills that underpin, and are at the forefront, of successful understanding and utilisation of electronic healthcare data.
• Develop, create and upskill healthcare data experts with the necessary expertise, and originality of application, to pursue and expand their roles in the context of the rapidly evolving environment of electronic healthcare data
• Promote a comprehensive understanding of the practical and ethical considerations relevant to healthcare data, informatics, innovation and commercialisation.
• Ensure a systematic understanding of the skills and knowledge required to facilitate the development of critical thinking, and appropriate analytical and problem-solving skills relevant to the utilisation of healthcare data.
• Provide work relevant learning and practical expertise in the context of a critical awareness of current problems, best-practice, challenges and potential solutions in the use of healthcare data.
• Instil a critically reflective approach to the development of innovative and commercially viable application of healthcare data.
• Create a professional network of like-minded individuals as leaders in the field of healthcare data commercialisation.

Learning outcomes

The programme provides the skills and knowledge needed to convert digital health data within electronic patient records, trial registries, and audit networks into effective research, service improvement tools which may have commercial applicability.

In particular the over-arching learning outcomes are:

Knowledge and understanding

• To enhance the students’ systematic knowledge and critical understanding of the diverse range of healthcare data produced, the way this is stored and handled and the problems this presents.
• To develop students’ ability to evaluate and to critically compare healthcare data sets in order to make value-based judgements on the most appropriate analytical and visualisation approaches to use.
• To enable students to describe and critique the functional and organisational structure of healthcare datasets.
• To provide a comprehensive understanding of the skills necessary to enable students’ to critically review and interpret healthcare data in the context of developing decision support tools, systemic change, and potentially novel commercial leads.
• To create an enquiring perspective to enable critical and evaluative discussion that extends student understanding of key ethical issues in the acquisition and use of healthcare data.
• To develop students’ ability to evaluate best practices in the use of healthcare data and apply appropriate methods to their own work.
• To enable students to understand and apply the academic and professional theories and applications of change management, innovation, commercialisation, and entrepreneurship to the utilisation of healthcare data.
• To enhance the students’ systematic knowledge and critical understanding of the importance, relevance, breadth and applicability of healthcare data in the modern world.
• To develop students’ ability to critically evaluate subject matter.
• To enable students to describe and critique key analytical, visualisation, and commercialisation techniques and approaches relevant to healthcare data.

Skills and other attributes

• To develop a data query and follow this with appropriate application of analytical and visualisation tools.
• To demonstrate systematic knowledge of the skills and methodologies necessary to: understand healthcare data in a repository; to perform appropriate analytical interpretation of the data; to apply appropriate visualisation tools and techniques; to identify innovative commercial potential in a critically evaluative manner, under their own initiative.

Teaching

This is a part-time course designed to fit with the demands of full-time employment. The course is delivered through a combination of face-to-face sessions requiring attendance in Cambridge, self-directed learning and supported through a virtual online environment [VLE].

It is structured across the following two units of work:

Unit 1: Research skills, governance and innovation, 20 credits;

Unit 2: Data structures, storage, and queries, 40 credits;

Each 20 credits of study is roughly equivalent to 200 hours of study which will consist of face to face teaching, blended, and self-directed learning. This is an indicative amount and it is recognised that individuals may engage in greater or lesser amounts of study for each unit.

Feedback

You will receive formative and peer-based feedback throughout the course, along with tutor provided feedback on the summative assignments.

Assessment

Essays, projects & written papers

Units will use summative assessment approaches designed to ensure experiential learning and work-based real-life relevance.

Approaches may include, but are not limited to: critical analysis of case-studies, assessment of evidence-based portfolios, assessment of work and sector relevant group presentations and projects, short answer questions, essays, and the ability to handle, analyse and visualise unseen datasets.

Academic requirement

Applicants for this course are expected to have achieved a UK 2.i honours degree or equivalent.

It is preferred that your first degree is in a subject relevant, or related to, life sciences, medical sciences, computational or data science.

Language requirement

All applicants are required to demonstrate competency in English at a high level before commencing the programme; students whose first language is not English must be able to satisfy the requirements below.

• IELTS Academic: Overall score of 7.0 (a minimum of 7.0 in Listening, Writing and Speaking; 6.5 in Reading)
• TOEFL Internet: Overall score of 100 (a minimum of 25 in each individual component)
• CAE: Grade A or B (with at least 193 in each individual element) plus a Language Centre assessment
• CPE: Grade A, B, or C (with at least 200 in each individual element)

Please be aware that you will need the use of a laptop for the duration of the course.

Fees

The fees for 2024-25 entry will be £5,950 for Home students and £10,420 for Overseas students.

Please note that there are no bursaries or scholarships available for this course.

Other costs

You will be expected to cover the application fee (£50 online) and any costs of travel, accommodation and subsistence during the course and sessions held in Cambridge.

Applications will be accepted until 31 May 2024. Please see APPLY NOW button above and follow the instructions carefully.

Selection process

Interviews for shortlisted applicants are due to be held online in June / July 2024. Decisions will be made approximately 6 - 8 weeks after the relevant closing date.

You must be available to attend all of the in person teaching sessions and meet assessment deadlines.

Supporting documents

In addition to the basic questions, you will be asked to provide:

• Academic transcripts
• Evidence of competence in English (if appropriate)
• Two references
• A current CV