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Academics: General Information on Academic ProgramsConceptual and technological tools developed within computer science are, for the first time, starting to have wide-ranging applications outside the subject in which they originated, especially in sciences investigating complex systems, most notably in biology and chemistry. Indeed,we believe computer science is poised to become as fundamental to biology as mathematics has become to physics. We postulate this because there is a growing awareness among biologists that to understand cells and cellular systems requires viewing them as information processing systems, as evidenced by the fundamental similarity between molecular machines of the living cell and computational automata, and by the natural fit between computer process algebras and biological signalling and between computational logical circuits and regulatory systems in the cell. We believe this is a potential starting point for fundamental new developments in biology, biotechnology and medicine. Though medical informatics has existed as a field in its own right for several decades, it is only recently that it has begun to come into its own and receive wider recognition, not only from those within medical and scientific disciplines, but in all walks of life. As technology and computing become more vital to understanding the vast amounts of data that the medical and scientific communities are confronted with, those in all areas of these fields must be prepared to contribute their knowledge, capabilities, research, and understanding. The Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology at OHSU has structured several complementary academic programs so as to address the wide-ranging influence that informatics will have in the future of medicine. Our programs offer appropriate levels of education to a wide variety of those in medicine, as, ultimately, there are none in the field who will remain untouched by the advances such technologies will bring. Our Fellowship and PhD programs, with their emphasis on advanced research, train future researchers and educators in the field of informatics. Our Master's programs in Medical and Biomedical Informatics grant professional degrees appropriate for those who will be leaders and managers in their careers - CIO's, project managers, lead physicians and the like. For those who may liaise with those in the previous categories but may not need a degree, we offer Certificate programs that impart a high degree of expertise and facility in informatics. Our programs include:
Also see the Human Investigations Program (HIP), which offers both a Master's degree and a Certificate in Clinical Investigations.  |