Weill Cornell Accepting Applications for Health IT Certificate Program

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Tuition Assistance Available for 80 Percent of Program Cost

The Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences is now accepting applications for its new six-month Health Information Technology Certificate Program, designed to provide students with the practical knowledge and skills required to work with electronic health records (EHRs) and other types of health information technology.

Health information technology is a national priority to improve health care delivery and efficiency, reduce medical errors and serve public health. An estimated 51,000 new health IT professionals will be needed over the next five years.

This certificate program, which runs from January through June 2011, is designed to help fill this need through hands-on training that addresses the legal, social, financial and political environment surrounding EHR implementation. Program graduates will be well prepared to enter a wide variety of health IT jobs in public health and clinical settings.

The program is designed for professionals and employees with expertise in either health care or information technology who are seeking training in the intersection of these disciplines. The innovative coursework has been developed and will be delivered by a joint Weill Cornell and Columbia University team that includes chief medical information officers, security officers, leaders of regional health care organizations, and other experts working at the cutting edge of health IT.

Created with the working professional in mind, the program combines distance learning with in-person Saturday sessions, held once a month at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

Cornell is pleased to offer tuition assistance for this program through the federal Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The tuition assistance, available to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, will pay $10,000 of the $12,500 tuition, with the $2,500 balance to be paid by the student.

Applications are due Nov. 1, 2010, and acceptance notices will be sent on or before Dec. 1. At course completion, successful trainees will receive a certificate of completion from the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.

For more information and to apply, visit www.sce.cornell.edu/exec/hitcp or www.weill.cornell.edu/publichealth/divisions/quality_medical_informatics/certificate.html

Information is also available through:
Cornell University School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions
cusp@cornell.edu or (607) 255-7259

Or by contacting the program directors:
Jessica S. Ancker, M.P.H., Ph.D., and Rainu Kaushal, M.D., M.P.H.
Division of Quality and Medical Informatics, Weill Cornell Medical College
hit-certificate@med.cornell.edu

Weill Cornell Medicine
Office of External Affairs
Phone: (646) 962-9476