Dental Informatics Master’s Concentration Curriculum
Dental Informatics – the application of computer and information sciences to improve dental practice, research, education, and management – is a relatively new field with significant potential for supporting dentistry’s many facets. Jointly-funded by National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) since 1996, the University of Pittsburgh Medical/Dental Informatics Program and the Temple University Dental Informatics Program have provided leadership in the developing dental informatics discipline through groundbreaking research and specialist training efforts. The consolidation of the faculty in Pittsburgh, beginning in January 2002, afforded the opportunity to create a more tightly integrated Dental Informatics curriculum in which trainees become knowledgeable of informatics applications across a broad range of dental and craniofacial research problems and information systems infrastructure management issues. The Dental Informatics curriculum is governed by five principles. First, the fusion of the two previously geographically separate program components affords better opportunities for distribution and integration of curricular content. Second, dental informatics trainees must become intimately familiar with a broad range of dental and craniofacial research problems. To do so, the curriculum draws on the research-rich environments at the School of Dental Medicine and the School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. Third, dental schools employ dental informaticians not only as researchers, but also as managers of information systems infrastructures. The program therefore prepares Dental Informatics trainees to fulfill both roles well. Fourth, because of the key role of genomics and proteomics in dental and craniofacial research, cross-training in bioinformatics is an option for interested trainees. Fifth, a PhD degree program is being developed for trainees who intend to focus exclusively on research in their careers.
Below is outlined the Dental Informatics concentration Master’s curriculum (minimum requirement of 39 credits). The Dental Informatics concentration shares a large part of the curriculum with the Biomedical I nformatics program. This scenario reflects our belief that Dental Informatics is a specialization of biomedical informatics (Schleyer, T, Spallek, H. Dental Informatics: A cornerstone of dental practice. JADA, Vol. 132, 2001. pp. 605-613). As genomics and proteomics play a key role in dental and craniofacial research, Dental Informatics concentration trainees could take up to 6 credits of the biomedical informatics distribution in bioinformatics-related courses, with the approval of his or her Dental Informatics advisor.
For additional information on the Dental Informatics program, see http://www.dental.pitt.edu/informatics/programs.html
Biomedical Informatics Core (4-7 credits)
BIOINF 2011: Introduction to Biomedical Informatics (3 credits)
BIOINF 2032: Journal Club (1 credit) Revised format will focus on seminal and new literature in the field w/ weekly preparation and critical analysis facilitated by an instructor; required of all students in first year.
Biomedical Informatics Colloquium (0 credit) Revised format will showcase presentations from DBMI researchers and invited speakers from across campus and beyond. Will meet weekly for one hour. Required attendance (75% minimum) for all students.
BIOINF 2013: Clinical Environments in Biomedical Informatics (3 credits: OPTIONAL for U.S. trained clinicians)
Required Dental Informatics Core (6 credits)
BIOINF 2201: Dental Information Systems Infrastructures (3 credits)
BIOINF 2202: Dental Informatics Seminar (3 credits)
Computational Competency: Tools and Concepts (minimum 6 credits)
Tools (minimum 3 credits)
BIOINF 2012 Problem-Oriented Programming in Medical Informatics (3 credits) is strongly recommended. An alternative* programming language elective may be substituted, pending approval of advisor. [CG1] Only those students for whom prior experience or other approved forms of demonstrated programming competency proficiency (such as online courses or portfolio development) exist, may seek a waiver of the programming elective.
Concepts (minimum 3 credits)
Database Management (3 credits): INFSCI 2710, HSR 2424, CS 2550 or alternative* approved by advisor.
Data Structures (3 credits): INFSCI 2500 or alternative* approved by advisor.
Algorithms (3 credits): CS 2150 or alternative* approved by advisor.
*Note: alternative courses must be graduate-level courses (having course numbers in the 2000 or 3000 series). Prerequisites may apply.
Biomedical Informatics Distribution (minimum 12 credits)
BIOINF 2014: Biomedical Informatics Project Course (3 credits)
BIOINF 2051: Introduction to Bioinformatics (3 credits)
BIOINF 2052: Introduction to Computational Structural Biology (2 credits)
BIOINF 2053: Sequence Analysis Laboratory (3 credits; includes Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) Workshop in August)
BIOINF 2054: Statistical Foundations for Bioinformatics Data Mining (3 credits)
BIOINF 2055: Practical Analysis of High-Throughput Genomic and Proteomic Data Sources (3 Credits)
BIOINF 2056: Bioinformatics of Gene Regulation (3 credits)
BIOINF 2057: Elements of Statistical Learning (3 credits)
BIOINF 2101: Probabilistic Methods for Computer-based Decision Support (3 credits)
BIOINF 2104: Information Technology and Health Care Organizations (3 credits)
BIOINF 2109: The Internet and Health Informatics (3 credits)
BIOINF 2110: Concepts of Software Project Engineering in Health Care (3 credits)
BIOINF 2111: Cognitive Studies for Health Informatics (3 credits)
BIOINF 2112: Methods and Principles of User-Centered Design (3 credits)
BIOINF 2113: Realtime Outbreak and Disease Surveillance (3 credits)
BIOINF 2114: Introduction to Medical Language Processing (3 credits)
BIOINF 2115: Mathematical Modeling Techniques for Complex Biological Systems (3 credits)
BIOINF 2131: Practicum in Advanced Biomedical Information Technology (1-6 credits)
BIOINF 2134: Research Writing Practicum (2 credits)
BIOINF 2992: Information in Radiological Imaging (Directed Study) (3 credits)
Research Methods (11 credits)
Introductory Statistics/Biostatistics (3 credits). The statistics core requirement can be met in variety of ways. Many of our current students take one or more of the following: Intro to Statistical Methods I (BIOST 2041: 3 credits), Intro to Biostatistics II (BIOST 2042: 2 credits), Statistics in Information Sciences (INFSCI 2060: 3 credits), Statistical Methods I (PSYED 2014: 3 credits), Statistical Methods 2 (PSYED 2015: 3 credits), or Statistical Methods 3 (PSYED 2016: 3 credits). (A waive of this requirement can be requested based on previous coursework in statistics (send e-mail request to tls18@pitt.edu; however, a biostatistics course taken in medical school is typically too brief an experience to justify a waiver.) Those students who must take a course to fulfill this requirement will be strongly urged to do so early in their plan of study.
BIOINF 2033: Introduction to Research in Biomedical Informatics (2 credits). New course being developed as an early structured research experience to be mentored by the student’s research advisor with oversight by Course Coordinator; required of all master’s and doctoral students in their first year.
BIOINF 2200: Introduction to Research in Dental Informatics (3 credits). Research project course involving, at minimum, full completion of a research project by class participants; mentored by research advisor(s); course extends over three semesters beginning in the first year.
BIOINF 2480: Master’s Research Project (3 or more credits) A key element of the program is a research project with two key deliverables: (1) the writing and submission (to the Training Program, via their master’s project committee) of a paper of publishable quality based upon the research and (2) the completion of an oral examination on its contents. The research project is required of master’s and PhD students. The research paper is expected to be 20-30 pages double spaced type, inclusive of abstract, figures, tables and references, and to include Objective, Background, Design, Measurements, Results, and Conclusion (or the equivalent, dependent on the specific research focus). There is the strong expectation that students will submit their projects for publication to appropriate journals and conferences, such as JAMIA, AMIA, or other respected academic publications in their field of study. All students should refer to Master’s Research Project Requirements for detailed description of this requirement, including committee, timeline, and deliverables.
Students have the option of developing their project into a formal master’s thesis. It is expected that those students who choose the thesis option will additionally satisfy all University requirements, including format and submission of copies, for the master’s thesis. For more information, see http://www.pitt.edu/~graduate/regmasters.html and http://www.pitt.edu/~graduate/dissertation.html University policy requires submission of thesis to be in electronic form for the Master’s degree, see http://www.pitt.edu/AFShome/g/r/graduate/public/html/etd/
Master’s Comprehensive Examination
Successful completion of the oral examination on the research project satisfies the comprehensive examination requirement of the University’s Committee on Graduate Studies (follow procedures outlined in the Master’s Research Project Requirements). Final certification of completion of the Master’s degree requires submission of an electronic copy of the research project (or, if student opts to do so, the formal Master’s thesis) to the Program Coordinator.
Additional Requirements
Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research: See specific information on Research Practice Fundamentals. This requirement must be satisfied within the first month of beginning any academic program at DBMI.
Attendance at and participation in the Department of Biomedical Informatics’ invited lectures, symposia, conferences, etc., e.g. The Annual Lindberg Lecture, and particularly the Annual Training Program Retreat. Such lectures are considered to be important educational experiences, as well as introducing students to primary researchers and their work in the field of biomedical informatics.