Study
The Institute of Health Informatics is at the forefront of health informatics education, drawing on the department’s research expertise to provide education and training for a global audience.
Since 1999, we have welcomed over 200 overseas and UK postgraduate students from more than 22 countries. We offer a range of courses including: Postgraduate Certificates, Diplomas, MSc, MRes, PhD programmes, plus short courses. Some students choose full time study, others want to combine work and study.
Our programmes are delivered with partners including the University of Manchester and the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme, but also with employers including NHS Trusts, Public Health England, IQVIA, Astra Zeneca, GSK, Benevolent AI and Roche Pharmaceuticals. Our combination of academic excellence and teaching experience means we can offer programmes that are exciting, challenging, flexible and which take students on to roles in healthcare, in industry, policy and academia.
Postgraduate Taught Degrees
Learn about healthcare policy and strategy, and how to design and implement the digital systems used in delivering healthcare.
Learn the techniques that are transforming medical research and creating exciting new commercial opportunities.
Learn the mathematical and statistical approaches to understanding health data, including operational research, machine learning and health economics.
Which course is right for me?
- Health Informatics
What qualification can I get?
Masters, diploma, certificate, single module.
Who joins the programme?
Mainly people working, often in the NHS, in IT or in clinical roles
How is it delivered?
Distance learning combined with short blocks of face to face teaching.
What kinds of challenges does the programme address?
How can digital technology improve the organisation and delivery of healthcare.
What practical skills do you learn?
Python programming, UML modelling, risk analysis methods.
Example of a project I could work on
Assessing the impact on primary care services of a digital intervention designed to relieve pressure on A&E services.
- Health Data Science
What qualification can I get?
Masters, diploma, certificate, single module.
Who joins the programme?
Full time or part-time students with a first degree in a quantitative subject or medicine.
How is it delivered?
Face to face teaching on campus or remote studying in a distance mode.
What kinds of challenges does the programme address?
How can we use a wide variety of health data from different sources to improve our understanding of health problems.
What practical skills do you learn?
Python programming, relational databases, machine learning, advanced statistics.
Example of a project I could work on
Analysing large and complex datasets to identify differences in how patients respond to new drugs.
- Health Data Analytics
What qualification can I get?
Masters, diploma, certificate, single module.
Who joins the programme?
Mainly people working, often in the NHS, in analytic or clinical roles.
How is it delivered?
Distance learning combined with short blocks of face to face teaching.
What kinds of challenges does the programme address?
How can we analyse the data generated by healthcare to improve the way we deliver care.
What practical skills do you learn?
Advanced statistics, machine learning, Stata & R, economic evaluation.
Example of a project I could work on
Analysing patient flows in a network of trusts in order to identify possible inefficiencies.
What are my career prospects?
Below are some examples of career pathways you could aim towards after your degree. However, career prospects between the three programmes may overlap and will depend on the student's module and dissertation choices.
Health Informatics students have gone on to have careers in IT management, NHS organisations, tech companies, policy organisations or consultancies.
Health Data Science students have gone on to have careers in health technology companies, pharmaceutical companies, or consulting organisations.
Health Data Analytics students have gone on to have careers in NHS Trusts or national bodies such as NHS England or Public Health England.
"My fellow students and I still meet up even now. It's fantastic to build a network of contacts working in data-driven health research all with fascinating jobs straight of the back of that MSc course".
Emma Colliver, Health Data Science
"The Institute of Health Informatics has fantastic and supportive professors and students, with a unique teaching approach which is research based and blended."
Moses Aliar, Health Informatics
"The best thing about being on the MSc programme in Health Informatics, was the relentless efforts made by UCL staff to support their students. As an international student, I particularly found the module tutors amazing when providing feedback and guidance. They will not hesitate to walk you through any challenging lessons."
Bernard Nsha, Health Informatics
Daniel Fernández, Graduate Data Scientist in a biopharmaceutical company
I had the opportunity to carry out my master's thesis at IQVIA, where I got contact with real-world data. This allowed me to see the labour market in a new light and also placed me in a strong position to join the Graduate Programme in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence at AstraZeneca.
Maria Xenou, Lead of Research and Evaluation in a digital healthcare company
I've undertaken the Health Informatics MSc course at UCL while working. One of the things I've enjoyed was the flexibility of the "working" students and the diversity of the program. Participating in this program allowed me to connect with other professionals which opened up new career opportunities for me.
Marcos Ennes Barreto, Associate Professor
Even though I was already holding an MSc and a PhD in Computer Science, I decided to enroll in this course as it provides all the necessary theoretical and practical background needed to work as a data scientist in the biomedical domain.
The Institute of Health Informatics invites all its former students to join the amazing community of over 200,000 former students in UCL living in 191 different countries worldwide.
In line with UCL's commitment to enabling Life Learning, IHI offers a variety of cutting edge short courses.
The Institute offers a range of opportunities for PhD studentships.
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