- Joined
- Mar 22, 2011
- Messages
- 135
- Reaction score
- 0
Does anyone know the deal with Nova's combined DO/MS Biomedical Informatics? What are the benefits of this program? What do its graduate pursue after graduation (research, business, residency)?
Nova's DO/MS Biomedical Informatics
- Thread starter EmmaNemma
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2008
- Messages
- 1,045
- Reaction score
- 1,748
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2010
- Messages
- 38
- Reaction score
- 1
I had a chat with the director during lunch, as he happened to be sitting next to me. The program is an extra year, it's kinda tough from what i gathered, it's the future of medicine and they all agree. DarkHorizon doesn't know what he is talking about.
https://www.amia.org/files/JAMA_Shortliffe_article_newsrelease-091410.pdf
An Article where the AMA says Biomedical informatics should be a priority in the training of physicians:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/304/11/1227.full?sid=db55794f-92c9-48b5-a02b-638f69c3dbbb
AMA says biomedical informatics needs to be an institutional priority:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/263/8/1114.full.pdf+html?sid=db55794f-92c9-48b5-a02b-638f69c3dbbb
It may add a year of debt, but remember for medical students that do masters programs at nova, the school subsidizes you. doing an MPH is like $1000 after everything. As though factor in a year of interest. If u think you can do the program and manage medical school go for it. Background in statistics, mathematics, and engineering help alot.
here is the nova program link, which give examples of what career oppurtunities you can do.
http://medicine.nova.edu/msbi/faqs.html
https://www.amia.org/files/JAMA_Shortliffe_article_newsrelease-091410.pdf
An Article where the AMA says Biomedical informatics should be a priority in the training of physicians:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/304/11/1227.full?sid=db55794f-92c9-48b5-a02b-638f69c3dbbb
AMA says biomedical informatics needs to be an institutional priority:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/263/8/1114.full.pdf+html?sid=db55794f-92c9-48b5-a02b-638f69c3dbbb
It may add a year of debt, but remember for medical students that do masters programs at nova, the school subsidizes you. doing an MPH is like $1000 after everything. As though factor in a year of interest. If u think you can do the program and manage medical school go for it. Background in statistics, mathematics, and engineering help alot.
here is the nova program link, which give examples of what career oppurtunities you can do.
http://medicine.nova.edu/msbi/faqs.html
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2011
- Messages
- 135
- Reaction score
- 0
Thanks for the info Anthony. Did the director mention whether these graduates do residencies and have any involvement with patients in the the careers that they take? Most of the positions listed in the link (ie Chief Information Officer) would not seem to have any patient interaction. Just curious. Thanks again.
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2008
- Messages
- 1,045
- Reaction score
- 1,748
Chief, I may not know what I am talking about but I am pretty sure that none of the graduates of COM will be working in any of the listed careers there. Also, I am pretty sure that subsidy is only for MPH. Nova advertised there DO/MBA program heavily to us, however it was in excess of 20K a year.
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2008
- Messages
- 431
- Reaction score
- 8
I will say, from the sound of it, if you're going to do something like this, you should do it at NOVA. Most places seem to use masters degrees like this as a way to get another year of tuition out of you for marginal benefit.
However... be skeptical. I mean, sure, it might be the future of medicine... or it might not. You're kind of rolling the dice.
If they let you work someplace without doing a residency first, then I have to wonder why they wouldn't just hire somebody who didn't go to medical school. If you have to do a residency and work for a few years before you get that sweet job this degree prepares you for, then you've delayed your highest salary for a year. There's an opportunity cost to this, as well as the added loan interest.
I wouldn't do it, but that's just me. Then again, I wouldn't want to work as a CIO period, so clearly I'm biased.
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2010
- Messages
- 38
- Reaction score
- 1
There are subsidies for all the combine DO programs. law, business, etc. MPH is so cheap because you don't have to do another year i believe. ie. not a 5yr program. Extra year program adds to the cost. Also DarkHorizon could be right, Nova has a habit of changing things one year to the next, so i could be wrong now. I have no clue if anyone has graduated with the degree. Call the medschool office ask them if you can have the email of a student in the program and exactly the cost. From what i gathered it is a really new program, so i have no clue besides what i mentioned.
Altruist is correct. you need to consider missed year of highest income and a year of interest added onto any cost of the program. Whether it is the future or not; and the direction of medicine will go, who knows. I am betting have a good idea where that direction is; and have my money invested accordingly.
If you just want to be a surgeon or a specialist, i don't see why you would need the degree. If your interested in biotech, pharma, WHO, CIO, or running your business it could? be useful. Actually there is no doubt it will be useful, just is it financially worth it? You could also call other schools with graduates and see what they are doing. I am not doing it and i was a biomedical engineer before school; school is difficult and stressful enough. Make sure you can handle the first semester of school before you pile on more work.
Altruist is correct. you need to consider missed year of highest income and a year of interest added onto any cost of the program. Whether it is the future or not; and the direction of medicine will go, who knows. I am betting have a good idea where that direction is; and have my money invested accordingly.
If you just want to be a surgeon or a specialist, i don't see why you would need the degree. If your interested in biotech, pharma, WHO, CIO, or running your business it could? be useful. Actually there is no doubt it will be useful, just is it financially worth it? You could also call other schools with graduates and see what they are doing. I am not doing it and i was a biomedical engineer before school; school is difficult and stressful enough. Make sure you can handle the first semester of school before you pile on more work.
- Joined
- May 22, 2010
- Messages
- 1,048
- Reaction score
- 5
this. 40K for a degree that will have zero effect on your earning potential sounds pretty silly. Will you really make up for 40K + 200K-400K of lost earnings + interest (possibly 250-450,000+ in losses) over time with this degree?
Also, Biomedical informatics is not the future of medicine; i've talked to people in computer science, engineering and mathematics about this "field", and they all say it's just a watered down degree of their subjects that doesn't have any real life utility (especially for a physician) Obviously program directors are going to try and act like it's the most important emerging field out there...take what they say with a grain of salt
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2010
- Messages
- 38
- Reaction score
- 1
Patel2..You either don't know what BMI is or don't know any developments in healthcare. I am going to assume the first one. You did not read the articles i posted, and this is what i did before medschool, and its exploding as we speak. BMI has to do with identifying data and establishing databases and models to be able to design systems and models around such data.
Here are some examples of where Biomedical Informatics is an imperative and why having a physicians degree also is of such value:
- Telemedicine
- Computer-assisted imagery/surgery
- Robotics
- EMR
- knowledge-based and expert systems (ES)
- Computer-assisted Diagnosic (CAD) and medical decision making
- 3D imaging (such as virtual endoscopy, etc)
- surgical simulation & virtual environments
-telesurgery
-Patient education
-physician education
all these require a physician that knows variables and specifics of procedures, diagnosing, etc to input or establish common and important guidelines. that allows an engineer to design a system for that physician. an engineer needed a mathematician to design a calculator for them.
A computer in the future.. such as IBM's Watson will tell you the percentage probability of different diseases with a higher level of certainty than a physician can.. It is the physicians job to identify important variables that need to be input. You don't believe me, tell me why should an insurance company pay you for something when a computer that cross-correlates millions of people with the same s/sx, and background, tells you to do x, and you do y. These systems will aid in diagnosis, set margins of error possible in robotic surgeries. Expert systems will allow a family physician to essentially take the role of specialists, to an extent; as your decision making is being monitored and correlated with millions of patients, databases, insurance companies, current research. I didn't even start with genetic. Mass general is establishing guidelines on cancer treatment with patients with certain genetic markers currently. THAT is BIOMEDICAL INFORMATICS.
Don't tell me biomedical informatics is a worthless for a physician. Whether you make a bunch of money doing this? it depends.
Here are some examples of where Biomedical Informatics is an imperative and why having a physicians degree also is of such value:
- Telemedicine
- Computer-assisted imagery/surgery
- Robotics
- EMR
- knowledge-based and expert systems (ES)
- Computer-assisted Diagnosic (CAD) and medical decision making
- 3D imaging (such as virtual endoscopy, etc)
- surgical simulation & virtual environments
-telesurgery
-Patient education
-physician education
all these require a physician that knows variables and specifics of procedures, diagnosing, etc to input or establish common and important guidelines. that allows an engineer to design a system for that physician. an engineer needed a mathematician to design a calculator for them.
A computer in the future.. such as IBM's Watson will tell you the percentage probability of different diseases with a higher level of certainty than a physician can.. It is the physicians job to identify important variables that need to be input. You don't believe me, tell me why should an insurance company pay you for something when a computer that cross-correlates millions of people with the same s/sx, and background, tells you to do x, and you do y. These systems will aid in diagnosis, set margins of error possible in robotic surgeries. Expert systems will allow a family physician to essentially take the role of specialists, to an extent; as your decision making is being monitored and correlated with millions of patients, databases, insurance companies, current research. I didn't even start with genetic. Mass general is establishing guidelines on cancer treatment with patients with certain genetic markers currently. THAT is BIOMEDICAL INFORMATICS.
Don't tell me biomedical informatics is a worthless for a physician. Whether you make a bunch of money doing this? it depends.
Last edited:
