Online Graduate Degrees
My Experience

I have often been asked what it was like obtaining my masters degree in medical informatics on-, line through Northwestern University. I have prepared a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes my experiences. I have reformatted the presentation for this post. I thought this might help others considering applying for an online degree program.

I was in the third group of students accepted into the online program at Northwestern University. The on campus program had been running for quite some time. I am sure the program will evolve as it becomes more mature. I think they got most of it right the first time around though.

My Distance Learning Experience
Masters of Medical Informatics at Northwestern University
School of Continuing Studies

What is Distance Learning?
•Virtual Educational Institution
–No brick and mortar centerpiece
–Timing of classes
•Synchronous
•Asynchronous
–Rarely meet or see classmates/instructors
–Work with others across multiple time zones
–Most students have a "real" job

Comparison to University
•Similarities
–Homework
–Tests
–Grades
–Library resources
–Lectures
•Differences
–Attend class online
–Emphasis on collaborative projects
–Difficulty establishing relationships
•To the school
•To instructors
•To classmates

Benefits
•Work full-time or care for family and still go to school
•Attend a school that you otherwise might not have access to
•Often employers pay part or all of fees
•Don't have to dress to go to class

Masters in Medical Informatics
Curriculum at Northwestern University-
11 classes required
•Prerequisites-for those with a clinical background
–Networking and Telecommunications
–Data bases
•Core classes for everyone
–Technical
•Interoperability
•Decision support
•Statistics
•Introduction to medical informatics7
Curriculum cont.
–Business aspects
•Technology evaluation, acquisition, contracting
•Hospital operations
–Other
•Leadership, organizational behavior, influence techniques
•Legal issues, social issues, ethics
•Capstone class

What else could have been covered?
•Project management
•Data warehouse techniques
•Influencing government policy
•Government and private grants process

Course Instructors
•Selected regular full-time Northwestern University faculty members
•Other faculty-subject matter experts
•Guest lecturers

Curriculum at Northwestern Univ.
Synchronous sessions
•1 ½to 2 hours a week
–PowerPoint lectures by instructor
–Class discussion
–Student presentations
–Guest lecturers
–Live class polls

Asynchronous Interactions
•Assignments
•Class resources
–Recorded class sessions
–Reprints
–Library access-often to full text articles
•Discussion board
–Directed
–Spontaneous

Additional Teaching Aids
•Pre-recorded WebEx instructional sessions
•Required and optional class textbooks
•Video demonstrations
•Harvard Business School cases

Group Projects
•Collaborative effort required in almost every class
•Group dynamics
•Collaboration technologies
•Deliverables
–Group Paper
–PowerPoint Presentation
•Group grading
•Peer evaluations

Time Commitment
•Class-1 ½to 2 hours a week
•Homework/Reading-10 to 20 hours a week
•Group meetings-1 to 2 hours weekly
•Classes were on quarter basis ≈11 weeks in duration year round
•Breaks between quarters were 2 to 4 weeks

Student Performance Evaluation
•Grading-A, B, C, etc.
–Homework
–Group projects
–Presentations/Papers
–Proctored exams
•Midterm
•Final
–Peer evaluations

Technology Challenges
•Synchronous sessions
–WebEx
–Adobe Connect Pro
•Collaboration
–Group meetings
–Managing group documents
•Dropbox
•Googlegroups
•Multiple software programs needed for various classes
–Drawing-Visio
–Data base management
•Oracle/SQL
•Access
–Decision support-TreeAge
–Web page design
–Reference management-EndNote
–Outlining-Mindmapper
–Statistical package

Value provided by the Program
•Broad exposure to field of study
•Self-directed learning opportunities
•Contacts
•Challenge of group collaboration
•Valuable credential, especially for one with little practical experience in the field
•Time for reflection
•Portfolio of work

Curriculum Challenges
•Adequate subject matter coverage
•Who develops
–Program directors
–Instructors
•Certification of program

Final Thoughts
•You get out of the program what you put in
•Not for everyone
•Expensive if you pay your own way
•Requires commitment, self-discipline, patience, hard work