February 6, 2012

Tuition support now available for 30 health IT scholars

Applicants who meet a Feb. 15 deadline for the fall 2012 Applied Health Informatics Program at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing are eligible for $10,000 in tuition support. Patricia Abbott, director of the program, said that additional monies will provide tuition support for up to 30 applicants.

The funding has been made through the U.S. government’s Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, which, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, earmarked $19 billion for HIT education and development.

The interdisciplinary online program is open to both nurses and non-nurses who have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and one year of health care experience. The post-baccalaureate 12-credit-hour program begins in August and is completed in nine months. The final two terms of the program (16 weeks) require an eight-hour-a-week practicum experience in a health information technology environment convenient to the student.

“This will be the last year that HITECH funding will enable us to offer $10,000 in tuition support to qualified applicants,” Abbott said, adding that the program provides an “unparalleled opportunity for those who are interested in leading the digital transformation of health care and in improving the quality, safety and efficiency of health care by harnessing the power of health IT.”

Applicants not seeking financial assistance have until May 1 to apply. For more information, go to nursing.jhu.edu/academics/programs/post_degree/online/applied_informatics.