May enter this specialization in the Fall, Spring and Summer Semesters.

• What is the specialization?
• What courses will I take?
• Who are the faculty?
• What about admission?
• What about the job market?
• How do I get more information?

The intent of this graduate education program is to orient prospective health information professionals to the theory, methodology, and practice of medical information management (including but not limited to medical librarianship). [There is another University of Pittsburgh program that trains health records administrators, known as the Department of Health Information Management in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.] The SIS curriculum is designed to support the concept that medical librarians and medical information managers are team players in the integrated information environments characteristic of modern medicine. The curriculum also supports study into the nature of health and medical information, and the traditional and the electronic means by which such information is organized, stored, and retrieved.

The School offers individuals interested in this career the Medical Informatics/Medical Librarianship Specialization as part of its 36 credit Master of Library and Information Science [MLIS] degree, 24 credit Certificate of Advanced Study post-master's degree program, and the 54 credit Doctor of Philosophy degree. Students can tailor their interests and career objectives to the appropriate degree program, while becoming well-equipped to work in a variety of healthcare sites in this exciting and dynamic field.

Graduate MLIS students typically start their program of study in either September or January, and they pursue a course of study that combines the one or more of the core requirements for the MLIS degree with one or more electives from the Medical Informatics/Medical Librarianship curriculum each term. After completion of the core, the nature and number of courses can be negotiated to meet students' needs and schedules, with an emphasis on both electives from the School, electives from the Schools of the Health Professions at the University of Pittsburgh, and a Fieldwork placement late in the program. The program can be completed in one calendar year of full-time study, or in four years of part-time study. Financial aid may be available for full-time study; some students work full-time in area healthcare facilities and pursue the degree part-time.

The elective curriculum for the Medical Informatics/Medical Librarianship Specialization consists initially of three LIS courses in the health information area; each is worth 3 graduate credits:

LIS 2585 Health Consumer Resources and Services:

Collection development, reference, and educational services in the domain of consumer health resources in print, non-print, and electronic formats. Identification of appropriate and accurate resources for consumer health and family education; policy issues in providing consumer and family health information in different settings; role of public media; and information and referral services to and from healthcare organizations, community agencies, and public libraries.

LIS 2586 Health Sciences Information Sources and Services:

Survey and evaluation of current sources, services, and trends related to information transfer in the health sciences, including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, allied health, and veterinary science. Special attention is paid to materials and services appropriate to hospital, academic, and special libraries and information centers.

LIS 2587 Applications in Medical Informatics:

A survey of concepts and activities in medical informatics, including an introduction to the applications of information technology in the areas of knowledge-based information and library informatics; integrated hospital information systems and patient-specific information; nursing, radiology, pathology, and pharmacy services; clinical decision support; telehealth; and medical education. Also included are concepts related to informatics in health care financing; legal, ethical, and philosophical issues in medical informatics; and consumer informatics.

Students will then take an additional four courses (totaling at least 12 graduate credits) from a list generated annually that describes related course offerings in the SIS, and in the University's Schools of the Health Professions. The courses emphasize technology, management, and healthcare topics. Lists of, and further information on, these courses is available on request.

Fieldwork is strongly encouraged, to be taken by full-time and part-time students at the end of their program; this fieldwork is generally worth 3-6 graduate credits. Fieldwork students have required readings and will meet with other health information management students doing fieldwork, and with the corps of site supervisors in order to enable the students to place the fieldwork in the broader framework of graduate education. Opportunities for fieldwork include work in academic, corporate, hospital, and government sites, and for those pursuing consumer health information, public and school sites; a list of sites is available annually.

The University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Library System (HSLS) and Center for Biomedical Informatics (CBMI) offer a joint training program in health sciences librarianship and medical informatics as a component of the Medical Informatics Training Program of the CBMI. This program is a year-long educational opportunity for individuals who have earned an MLS degree and who have special interests or experience in health sciences librarianship and medical informatics. For more information about this program see: http://www.hsls.pitt.edu