Program Curriculum
The Biomedical Informatics curriculum is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of students with different backgrounds and career goals, while providing a uniform foundation in the essentials of the field. The core courses provide a foundation in general Biomedical Informatics methods, techniques and theories, while electives enable students to apply these methods to one or more areas of specialization in bioinformatics, clinical informatics, public health informatics or translational informatics.
All students are required to take four Bimedical Informatics core courses. Curriculum requirements vary depending on the degree and area of research. However, all students are expected to take one or more courses in each of the three education objective areas. MA degree students are required to take one course in each of the Biomedical, Computational, and Mathmatical education objective areas, two electives and one project course. PhD students are required to take one course in each of the Biomedical and Mathematical education objective areas and two courses in the Computational education objective area, two electives, one ethics course and research courses to support their dissertation work.
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will permit transfer of up to 15 points of graduate courses previously taken if they were Columbia University courses not used toward degree requirements for another degree at Columbia.
Students must receive a minimum of a “B” in any course to count it towards the degree, with the exception of research. For research courses (BINF G6001 and BINF G9001), a grade of “A” is the minimal mark acceptable for PhD and postdoctoral degree-earning fellows. Grades less than a “B” in departmental courses or less than an “A” in research may result in program dismissal, as may an “F” received in any course.
The department of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University offers a variety of training opportunities to meet different needs:Core Courses
All students are required to successfully complete the following three core courses:
- G4001 Introduction to Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine
- G4002 Computational Methods
- G4003 Topics in Biomedical Informatics (symbolic methods)
To complete the core requirements, students select one additional course from following list. The selection will depend on students' educational and research objective.
- G4015 Computational Biology: Proteins, Networks and Function (experimental methods)
- G6002 Research Methods
EducationAL Objectives
Students must demonstrate competence in the areas that serve as a building block for Biomedical Informatics. Such a foundation is demonstrated by successfully completing graduate level courses in these areas. A number of Biomedical Informatics courses are offered to meet the educational objectives these courses serve. Students are also permitted to take courses in other departments with approval from their research or academic advisors or the graduate program director.
Biomedical: The educational objective includes being conversant with concepts, terminology, institutions, professionals, and methods of the biomedical domain. Biomedical Informatics courses that meet the biomedical objectives include:
- G6300/G6301 Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Eukaryotes
- G4011 Acculturation to Medicine
- P6400/6402 Epidemiology
Computational: The educational objective includes being able to apply computational techniques to manage data, develop software and solve problems. Biomedical informatics courses that meet the computational objectives include:
- G4015 Computational Biology: Proteins, Networks and Function
- G4016 Computional Virology
- W4111 Database Systems
- W4771 Machine Learning
- W4705 Natural Language Processing
Mathematical: The educational objective includes being able apply mathematical techniques to analyze data and test hypotheses. Example courses include:
- P6103 Introduction to Biostatistics
- P6104 Introduction to Biostatistical Methods
- P8149 Statistical Aspects of Human Population Genetics
- P6104 Applied Statistics
Students who meet biomedical, computational, or mathematical objectives through prior graduate courses may not be required to take further courses in these areas as determined by their academic advisor or the graduate program director, but must still fulfill the Columbia University requirement of the minimum number of points of Columbia University instruction and residence units required for the degree (60 points and 6 residence units for PhD students, 30 points and 2 residence units for MA students).
Electives
PhD and MA students are required to take two elective courses relevant to their educational goals and research focus. The objective of the electives is to apply general methods and theories of informatics to one or more biomedical levels: molecules and cells; tissues and organs; patients; populations. Example elective courses include:
- G4004 Applied Clinical Information Systems
- G4005 Process Redesign in a Complex Organization
- G4022 Exploration of Clinician Information Needs
- G4062 Public Health Informatics
- G5043 Cognitive Science & Biomedical Informatics: Theoretical & Methodological I
- G4013 Biological Sequence Analysis
- ECBM E4060 Intro-Genomic Information Science & Technology
- G8001 Readings
