Clinical Informatics Programs: Degrees and Certificates

Clinical informatics programs train clinicians and health IT staff to design, run, and improve the systems used in patient care. This page compares the clinical informatics degrees and certificates we have profiled, using costs, credits, and formats from each school’s own published figures.

Scope: University degrees and certificates with a clinical informatics focus. Physician fellowships are not included. Reviewed October 9, 2026.

Clinical Informatics Programs Compared

How to Read the Table

• Credits and units. Figures are semester credits unless marked. Stanford and the University of Washington run on quarters. Penn counts course units (CU); a standard course is 1 CU.
• Ranges by credential. Duke, UMB, and Penn ranges run from the certificate to the master’s.
• Ranges by residency. Indiana University Indianapolis, Ohio University, UMB, and Utah charge different in-state and out-of-state rates.
• Ranges by program option. The University of Washington’s range reflects the project (42 credits) or thesis (48 credits) route. Utah’s credit range reflects elective and practicum choices.
• Fees. Tuition estimates exclude fees, except Ohio University, whose per-credit figure includes the program, technology, and general fees on its bursar schedule. Stanford’s figure is a minimum because 2027-28 rates are not yet published.

Browse individual school profiles.

---

Credential Types

• Graduate certificates. Ohio University (9 credits), UMB (12), Indiana University Indianapolis (15), and Duke (17) offer one. Penn’s Certificate in Biomedical Informatics is 4 CU and open only to Penn and CHOP affiliates. Certificates at UMB, Duke, and Penn transfer into the school’s master’s.
• Master’s degrees. UMB awards an MS in Clinical Informatics. The University of Washington awards an MS in Clinical Informatics & Patient-Centered Technologies, Utah an MS in Biomedical Informatics (Applied Clinical Informatics emphasis), Vanderbilt an MS in Applied Clinical Informatics, and Stanford an MS in Clinical Informatics Management (MCiM). Duke awards a Master of Management in Clinical Informatics (MMCi), Penn a Master of Clinical Informatics (MCI), and Yale a Master of Health Science (MHS) in Clinical Informatics & Data Science.
• Length. Master’s programs run from 32.5 semester credits at Utah to 48 quarter units at Stanford. Penn’s MCI is 10 CU.

---

Who Can Apply

No profiled program requires an RN license. Admission screens differ more than the credentials do.

Programs That Accept Applicants From Nonclinical Backgrounds

• Ohio University: any bachelor’s degree; no minimum GPA published.
• Indiana University Indianapolis: bachelor’s degree with a 3.0 GPA.
• UMB: bachelor’s degree, essay, and three recommendation letters for the MS.
• Duke: bachelor’s degree and an interview with the program director; college calculus, statistics, and computer skills recommended.
• Stanford: bachelor’s degree, then a one-way video interview and a Zoom interview.
• Utah: bachelor’s degree with a 3.0 GPA; the handbook expects foundational Python before the first term.
• Vanderbilt: any degree; two years of relevant experience strongly preferred; shortlisted applicants get a phone interview.

Programs With Experience or Affiliation Requirements

• University of Washington: one year of health care experience and a completed statistics course.
• Penn: the MCI expects clinical-setting experience. The certificate admits Penn and CHOP affiliates only.
• Yale: a terminal professional degree, or a bachelor’s plus 5 years of relevant experience. Applicants must name a Yale primary mentor and a three-member committee and submit a research plan.

International applicants: UMB and Vanderbilt exclude F and J visa holders, Utah’s emphasis is closed to F-1 and J-1 students, and Ohio University’s online programs generally exclude students living outside the U.S.

---

What Students Study

Most programs share a core of informatics foundations, clinical information systems, decision support, and data standards. Beyond that core, programs lean toward one or more of four overlapping emphases.

• Technical: Utah (Python, clinical database design, statistics), Penn (SQL and R), and UMB (Python, machine learning, and big data platforms through a UMBC data science certificate).
• Implementation: Vanderbilt (decision support, workflow design, system lifecycle, organizational change) and Utah (systems analysis and implementation, architecture).
• Management: Duke (6 of 15 required courses are business) and Stanford (accounting, strategy, entrepreneurial finance).
• Research: Yale (18 of 35 credits are mentored thesis research) and the University of Washington (scholarly project or thesis).

Ohio University and Indiana University Indianapolis offer introductory coursework. Indiana’s electives let students lean toward management or technical systems.

---

Practicums, Capstones, and Theses

• Published practicum hours: Vanderbilt (240 hours, plus a nine-month capstone at the student’s employer), Stanford (180 hours, student-sourced), and Utah (135 to 240 hours; students find a site with program help).
• Applied project, hours not published: Duke (team project inside the Duke health system, sourced by Duke), Penn (one-semester capstone; students recruit a Senior Fellow mentor), and UMB (research-oriented practicum with an assigned mentor).
• Research thesis or project: Yale (mentored thesis across all six terms) and the University of Washington (faculty-chaired scholarly project or 9-credit thesis).
• Coursework only: the Ohio University, Indiana University Indianapolis, UMB, and Penn certificates. Duke’s certificate includes the practicum.

---

Cost Range

Estimated tuition runs from about $5,000 for Ohio University’s certificate to about $107,800 for Yale’s MHS. Certificates run $5,000 to $24,200. Six of the eight master’s programs fall between $28,300 and $71,300; Stanford ($87,300 minimum) and Yale sit above that range.

• Residency: Utah’s out-of-state tuition is about double in-state. The University of Washington and the private schools charge one rate for all residents.
• Scholarships: Duke lists a $20,000 MMCi scholarship. At Yale, departmental contributions and scholarships can cover full tuition for internal trainees; external applicants pay the full rate.
• Fees: required fees range from about $40 (Indiana University Indianapolis) to about $7,400 (Penn’s MCI, part time). Each profile lists them separately.

---

Delivery Formats

• Online: Ohio University, Indiana University Indianapolis, UMB, and the University of Washington. UMB’s MS adds a monthly live Zoom conference course; the University of Washington holds an optional annual meeting in Seattle.
• Online with live classes: Vanderbilt (Thursday 5 to 8 p.m. Central, no travel) and Utah (remote live and self-paced courses; Utah does not state whether orientation is in person).
• Hybrid: Duke (one Friday-Saturday on campus each month) and Stanford (Friday-Saturday on campus every other week, full-time enrollment).
• Campus: Penn (weekday classes, most starting at 3:30 p.m.) and Yale (on-site research with 50% protected time).

---

How to Choose a Clinical Informatics Program

1. Check Admissions Eligibility

Start with the programs you can actually enter. Most accept any bachelor’s holder, but the University of Washington requires a year of health care experience, and Penn’s MCI expects clinical-setting experience. Penn’s certificate is limited to Penn and CHOP affiliates. Yale requires a terminal degree or 5 years of experience, plus a Yale mentor and committee before you apply.

2. Match the Curriculum to Your Career Goal

Analysts and system builders fit technical programs such as Utah, Penn, and UMB. Staff who will run EHR and decision support projects fit implementation-heavy programs such as Vanderbilt. CMIO and executive candidates fit management programs such as Duke and Stanford. Future researchers fit Yale or the University of Washington’s thesis route.

3. Check the Attendance Schedule

Fully online programs fit any job and time zone. Vanderbilt’s live sessions run Thursday evenings Central time, which falls mid-afternoon on the West Coast. Duke and Stanford require campus weekends, monthly and biweekly. Penn’s weekday afternoon classes and Yale’s 50% protected time require an employer that releases you during work hours.

4. Understand the Applied Project

Practicums log supervised hours at a site; capstones produce one project; theses produce research. Duke and UMB arrange the project or mentor. At Stanford, Utah, and Penn, students arrange their own site or mentor, with varying program help. Vanderbilt’s capstone requires an employer willing to sponsor it. Yale’s mentor must be in place before admission.

5. Calculate the Full Cost

Add fees, travel, and time away from work to tuition. Duke’s and Stanford’s campus weekends mean flights and lodging for out-of-area students. Penn’s and Yale’s schedules cost work hours. Residency can double the price at Utah, and scholarships can cut Duke’s and Yale’s.

6. Check Certification Requirements Separately

A degree is an academic credential. Professional certifications are awarded by separate bodies with their own education and experience rules. Confirm the rules below before choosing a program for certification.

---

Certification After Graduation

ABPM Clinical Informatics (Physicians)

A master’s degree alone does not make a physician eligible for the clinical informatics board exam. Starting in 2026, ABPM eligibility requires a 24-month ACGME-accredited clinical informatics fellowship and current primary specialty board certification. The practice pathway, under which a clinical informatics master’s could count toward practice time, closed after the 2025 application cycle. Physicians approved through it in 2024 or 2025 keep a three-year exam window, ending in 2026 or 2027.

AMIA Health Informatics Certification (AHIC)

AHIC requires a qualifying degree and qualifying health informatics experience. With a master’s or doctorate in health informatics or an informatics-focused field, applicants need 4 years of experience within the past 6 at 50% or more of work time, or 6 years within 8 at 20 to 49%. Related degrees and bachelor’s degrees require more years. A graduate certificate is not a degree, and AMIA decides how each degree is classified.

ANCC Informatics Nursing (NI-BC)

NI-BC requires an RN license, a bachelor’s or higher in nursing, 2 years of full-time RN practice, and 30 hours of informatics nursing continuing education. Applicants then meet one of three practice options: 2,000 hours of informatics nursing practice in 3 years; 1,000 hours plus 12 semester hours in a graduate informatics nursing program; or a graduate informatics nursing program with 200 faculty-supervised practicum hours. The programs on this page are not nursing informatics programs, so their practicum hours do not automatically qualify. RN graduates usually qualify through practice hours. See our nursing informatics programs for programs built around ANCC’s practicum pathway.

CAHIIM Accreditation

CAHIIM accredits specific degrees, not schools. Vanderbilt’s MS in Applied Clinical Informatics is the only profiled program with CAHIIM accreditation. The University of Washington and Indiana University appear in CAHIIM’s directory for other degrees (UW’s Master of Health Informatics and Health Information Management and IU’s health informatics master’s), not for the programs profiled here.