Biomedical Informatics at the University of Utah
In my last posting, I explained a little about Biomedical Informatics. Here I want to explain my experience so far studying at the University of Utah.
I looked at several schools and applied to a three of them (including Utah). What impressed me about Utah’s program is that it’s the first and oldest program in the field. Some of the “pioneers” of this field started the program.
I was also amazed at the resources available, particularly the health care systems with which it has connections. The three main ones are the University Health Care Network (which includes the University Hospital, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Moran Eye Center, and smaller clinics throughout the state), Intermountain Healthcare (includes Primary Children’s Medical Center and many hospitals and clinics throughout the area), and the VA Hospital network (largest health-care network in the US). Each of these health-care networks have been successful at implementing electronic-health-record systems, which makes for outstanding research opportunities in this field.
If you’re going down the bioinformatics path and applying computers to genetic research, the university is a great place to be. The state of Utah is widely considered one of the two best places in the world for genetic research. This article explains why.
The faculty are impressive. Some have long academic experience, some are practicing clinicians, some have lots of industry experience (including many who currently work in the industry), and of course there is lots of overlap.
It’s been fun getting to know my fellow students in the program, who come from various backgrounds. I’ve been amazed at the international diversity among the students. Just in my class, there are students from Germany, England, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Russia, and North Pole, Alaska. 
You can find the program’s Web site here.
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September 17th, 2006 at 11:13 pm
Great stuff, Steve, keep it coming!
October 8th, 2006 at 3:09 am
That article about why genetic research is so successful in Utah is quite interesting. In addition to the specific points it made, which I found interesting, it also shows how much a person’s culture affects many more factors than we often realize.