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Medical Informatics Major |
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University of Michigan Launches New
Information Age Major: Informatics
Other Topics:
Medical
Informatics Major
PRNewswire-USNewswire
September 9, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Michigan - University of Michigan undergraduates have
a new major on their list of choices, one highly relevant in the
age of Google and Web 2.0: informatics.
Informatics is the study of information and the ways information
is used by and affects people and social systems. Experts in
this field design information technology tools for scientific,
business, and cultural needs, and study how such tools are used.
Informatics specialists, for example, might help develop the
systems that let your doctor quickly share your medical records
with a specialist while still ensuring your privacy. |
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"The program offers students an
opportunity to develop the skills to be leaders in an
information-centric world," says Martha E. Pollack, dean of the
School of Information. "Think of the analogy to biology: biology
majors are experts in living organisms; informatics majors will
be experts in information, in all its forms."
"Tremendous progress in computer science and communications is
radically changing the way we do medical science, share and
retrieve information, access services, and form communities,"
adds Professor Farnam Jahanian, chair of Computer Science and
Engineering. "Informatics students will apply principles from
computer science, statistics, and user-centered design to
provide the expertise needed to shape these changes."
Key to the new concentration is its bringing together of both
technological and social perspectives, giving students a
grounding in computer science, mathematics, and statistics,
combined with study of the ethical and social science dimensions
of complex information systems.
After completing a common set of core courses, informatics
students choose one of four concentration tracks:
-- computational informatics, in which they design and evaluate
usable computing solutions;
-- information analysis, in which they analyze and visualize
massive datasets;
-- life science informatics, in which they apply computation and
statistics to problems in life science and biomedical research;
or
-- social computing, in which they build and evaluate social
software applications and study the influences of these systems
on society.
Junior Lisa Ferro, the first U-M student to declare the new
informatics concentration, says of the major, "I believe that
studying the relationship between information and individuals
will lead to ways that we can improve that interaction in the
future."
When Ferro and her fellow concentrators graduate, they will be
highly qualified for a wide array of IT-industry positions, such
as:
-- business analytics consultant
-- data analysis consultant
-- data center engineer
-- human factors engineer
-- information analyst
-- information systems developer
-- software designer
-- usability specialist
Informatics graduates will be well positioned to meet the
growing need for professionals who have not only first-class
technology skills but also the larger, humanistic view that will
help them develop and deploy that technology to serve human
needs.
Informatics is a joint program of U-M's College of Literature,
Science, & the Arts; College of Engineering; and School of
Information.
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