eHealth, M.Sc.

Disciplines

The eHealth program is offered in collaboration of the Faculties of Health Sciences, Engineering, and Business. All eHealth students are required to complete four core courses across the disciplines. A variety of elective courses in each discipline are available to cater to individual interests.  Students are assigned an academic advisor upon entry to the program to assist them with course selection and navigation through the program. All students must participate in and contribute to a weekly seminar series during their on-campus semesters. These seminars are designed to acquaint students with recent advances in the eHealth field, build skills sets, supplement course content, and to introduce them to experts in industry, government and research.

Admission

Students entering the eHealth program may be admitted from a variety of suitable undergraduate degrees. They will belong to a community with a variety of backgrounds in related fields, with common interests in information technology to support health services delivery and research. The main requirements are a passion for the study of eHealth, a background in computing and a strong interest in the use of computing support in health care applications. Students must present evidence that they have taken a minimum of two computer science-related courses at the undergraduate or community college level. One of these courses must be in any programming language. The second course must be in either data base design or data structures and algorithms. A background in health sciences, life sciences, business, or computer science is an asset, but not a requirement. The Admissions Committee will judge each candidate’s suitability for the program. A minimum B+ average in the final year of a four-year undergraduate degree program is required for admission. Applicants for the full-time options must also attend a face-to-face interview that evaluates their suitability for an eight-month internship, a required component of the program.  English language competency testing is also required for those without post-secondary study conducted in English.

Degree Options and Internship

A candidate for the M.Sc. eHealth degree may choose to take the program either full-time or part-time. The full-time program has two options: thesis or course-based. In the thesis option, students must complete the required courses plus one elective course (a total of five courses). In addition, students must complete and defend a thesis successfully. The thesis option is not open to part-time students. Completion of the M.Sc. thesis option is the preferred route to a Ph.D. program in a similar field (e.g., Health Research Methodology, Computer Science, Business). In the course-based option (which may be taken full or part-time), students take the required courses and four electives selected (for a total of eight courses). All courses must be completed with at least a B- standing.

Students taking the thesis option are expected to complete their programs and submit their theses within 24 months of registration. Full-time students taking the course-based option are expected to complete their programs within 20 months, including a project or academic review which will result in a scholarly paper arising from a relevant study in eHealth. Full time students are limited to a maximum of three years from initial registration. Part-time students are expected to complete their programs within four years of registration, and are limited to a maximum of five years. Part-time students are also required to complete a scholarly paper relevant to eHealth.

In addition to coursework, all full-time students must satisfactorily complete an eight-month internship with a company, healthcare institution, or government agency. In most, but not all cases, the internship will be a paid position.