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Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation

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Masters of Health Informatics Program

September 2013

Faculty of Medicine University of Toronto

Masters of Health Informatics Student Handbook

University of Toronto IHPME i

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 School of Graduate Studies 1.2 IHPME Website – Student Info

2. University of Toronto Structure 2

2.1 Academic Structure 2.2 Administrative Structure

3. The Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation 4

3.1 The Institute’s Mission Statement 3.2 Our Faculty 3.3 MHI Program Faculty

4. MHI Program Information 11

4.1 Program Overview 4.2 The MHI Structure 4.3 Program Philosophy: Problem Based Learning 4.4 Learners 4.5 Expectations of Students 4.6 Program Schedule 4.7 Program Curriculum 4.8 Program Outcomes and Competencies

5. MHI Program Operations 19

5.1 Associations 5.2 Attendance 5.3 Blackboard Portal – E-Learning 5.4 Books 5.5 Card Key Access 5.6 Computers 5.7 Course Registration - ROSI 5.8 Email - UTmail 5.9 Evaluation 5.10 Grading 5.11 Groups 5.12 Internet and Web-Based Learning 5.13 Late Assignments 5.14 ListServ 5.15 Meeting Rooms 5.16 my.access – off-campus access to U of T Libraries licensed resources 5.17 Newsletter – IHPME “In Focus” 5.18 Orientation 5.19 Other Students 5.20 Practicum

Masters of Health Informatics Student Handbook

University of Toronto IHPME ii

5.21 Preceptor 5.22 Presentations - Oral 5.23 Reading Packages 5.24 Student Study Areas 5.25 TCard 5.26 UTORid 5.27 Wireless Zone – UTORcwn (campus wireless network) 5.28 Written Assignments 5.29 Ethical Guidelines for the Recruitment of Key Informants/Expert Contacts for Field-

based Projects and Assignments and Obtaining Verbal Informed Consent

6. Graduate Institute of IHPME 2013-2014 Fall/Winter/Spring-Summer Timetable 31

6.1 Important Dates/Deadlines 7. Contact Information

8. Appendix I ROSI - Student Web Service 33

Master of Health Informatics Student Handbook

University of Toronto 1 IHPME

1. Introduction This Handbook is designed for students entering the Masters of Health Informatics Program at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto. By now you are aware of the major components of the Program. The purpose of this booklet is to provide specific details about the Program’s structure, courses, and schedule; its operation; and the expectations around the learning process.

Another document, that provides important information about the policies and operations of the Program and the University, is the Calendar published by the School of Graduate Studies (SGS). The calendar outlines the rules and procedures relevant to graduate studies at the University of Toronto and should be reviewed by all incoming students. The calendars are usually re-issued in the late summer or early fall of each academic year and will be available at the fall semester orientation. Alternatively, the calendar is also available online (late summer or early fall) through the SGS website. There is also an order form for additional hard copies (with payment):

SGS Calendar: http://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/calendar.htm

1.1 School of Graduate Studies

63/65 St. George Street Toronto, Ontario M5S 2Z9

Tel. (416) 978-6614 Fax (416) 978-4367

Email: [email protected] Public Hours: 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Website: www.sgs.utoronto.ca

1.2 IHPME Website – Student Info

The Institute's website is located at www.ihpme.utoronto.ca.

All current timetables are posted on the Current Students section:

MHI Timetables: http://www.ihpme.utoronto.ca/for/currentstudents/timetables/mhi.htm

http://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/calendar.htm

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/

http://www.ihpme.utoronto.ca/

http://www.ihpme.utoronto.ca/for/currentstudents/timetables/mhi.htm



2. University of Toronto Structure

2.1 Academic Structure

The School of Graduate Studies The School of Graduate Studies is responsible for all graduate studies at the University of Toronto, and for developing and implementing appropriate regulations and operating procedures. The School sets and administers the academic requirements of all programs including approval of admissions and programs of study; certification of the satisfactory completion of each student’s program of study prior to graduation; and maintenance of accurate records of the academic activities of all students registered in the School.

The Graduate Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) The Graduate Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation administers all the programs of graduate studies for the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation which includes the MHI Program, the MHSc Health Administration Program, the MSc Program in Health Services Research, Health Technology Assessment and Management Program, and Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research, and the PhD Program in Health Services Research and Clinical Epidemiology and Healthcare Research. The Executive Director of the Graduate Institute is Dr. Adalsteinn Brown who is responsible for maintaining the standards and policies of the School of Graduate Studies. The Graduate Coordinator, Dr. Rhonda Cockerill, is responsible for day-to-day operations of the Graduate Institute.

The Master of Health Informatics Degree (MHI) The Master of Health Informatics (MHI) is a full-time professional graduate degree program. It is offered through the Graduate Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation in the Faculty of Medicine (IHPME) with participation of the Faculty of Information (iSchool). The MHI is intended for health sciences practitioners, health professionals and computer or information technologists who share an interest in converging their strengths and skills in the application of clinical, information and communication technologies for solving problems and driving change in health care systems to improve health outcomes. The academic goal is to produce clinically and technically savvy solution architects capable of bridging the knowledge and cultural gaps that are pervasive in the clinical and health care delivery sectors. The full-time class-room learning program will require the completion of 10 Full Course Equivalents (FCE), including a 600 hour practicum. The program will be 16 months in duration over four consecutive terms.

2.2 Administrative Structure

The Dean, Faculty of Medicine The University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine is one of the largest in North America and consists of 11 basic science Institutes, 13 clinical Institutes and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. The Dean of the Faculty is Catharine Whiteside, who is responsible for developing and implementing strategic directions and allocating resources across the Faculty of Medicine.



The Director of The Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation The Chair of the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation is Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, who is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction and resource allocation decisions within the Institute.

Program Director, MHI As Program Director, Twylla Bird-Gayson is responsible for the strategic and operational management of the MHI Program. She also fulfills the role of learner advocate. If you need help or advice in dealing with the broader academic or administrative structure of the University, please feel free to call or visit Ms. Bird-Gayson’s office at:

Health Sciences Building, 4th Floor 155 College Street, Suite 425 Toronto, Ontario M5T 3M6

Tel: (416) 946-8131 Fax: (416) 978-7350

Email: [email protected]




3. The Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation The Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation offers a rich array of full-time and part-time graduate and continuing education programs. Since 1949 IHPME has graduated over 1,700 students who fill positions as CEOs, senior managers, directors, and researchers in the health services sector both public and private, academia, and government. IHPME encompasses over 200 affiliated faculties at the University of Toronto, its teaching hospitals and associated research institutes who generate and transmit both theoretical and practical innovations. IHPME faculty conduct leading-edge research in home and community based care; health system performance, measurement and improvement; knowledge translation; information and communication technologies in health; and clinical evaluative science. IHPME researchers transmit knowledge and expertise to students via courses and as graduate supervisors; to decision-makers through participation on committees, task forces, hospital and health agency boards, and national and provincial research review panels; and to an interdisciplinary audience through publications and presentations at national and international symposia.

3.1 The Institute’s Mission Statement

"Improving health care quality through leadership in health services education and research."

3.2 Our Faculty

The Institute’s faculty are renowned across Canada and internationally for their contribution to the advancement of health services managerial and policy thought. They are selected for their excellence in research and teaching, and for their health services knowledge and experience. Members of the faculty have been actively involved in management development activities for our own health care system, as well as for international colleagues who may wish to learn from our experience.

3.3 MHI Program Faculty

The Program’s faculty is renowned across Canada and internationally for their contribution to the advancement of Health Informatics and Information Management. They are selected for their excellence in research and teaching, and for their health services or information management knowledge and experience. Members of the MHI faculty have been actively involved in Health Informatics development activities for our own health services system, as well as for international colleagues who may wish to learn from our experience.

Joel Alleyne: IHPME Lecturer Joel Alleyne is an adjunct instructor with the Faculty of Medicine MHI Program (University of Toronto). He has worked in Management Consulting and the health care industry for over thirty years across the Americas and Europe. Joel has acted as Practitioner-in-Residence with the Knowledge Media Design Institute (University of Toronto). He is a PhD student and adjunct instructor with the Faculty of Information. He has also taught graduate students as an adjunct instructor with the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (University of Western Ontario). He is a member of the Entovation



100 Global Knowledge Leaders; which includes several global thought leaders and practitioners in the field who play a role in shaping the new knowledge based economy. Joel is also a faculty member with the (private) Kaieteur Institute. Periklis Andritsos, PhD (Toronto) iSchool Assistant Professor Periklis Andritsos received his B.Sc. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. He then moved to Toronto for his graduate studies and holds an M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from the University of Toronto. Professor Andritsos' research focuses on the analysis of large repositories and, more specifically, the structure discovery in order to facilitate design and speed up querying. He has developed a clustering algorithm for categorical data, which has also formed the basis of his novel work on discovering alternative schemas in databases with inconsistencies and errors. His techniques have also been used and patented in the industry. In 2008, he co-founded and was the lead research scientist of Thoora.com, a start-up company specializing in collecting and bringing forward the user reaction to current news stories in social media platforms (Twitter, blogs etc.). Thoora received one of the 50 "best start-up" awards in the TechCrunch50 2009 competition. In 2010, as a member of the Ontario Cancer Institute at the University Health Network in Toronto, he used his clustering expertise in the automatic discovery of protein-protein interactions from text. During his years in academia at the University of Toronto (1998-2005), the University of Trento, Italy (2005-2008) and the Free University of Bozen/Bolzano (2011-2012) he has supervised M.Sc. and Ph.D. students and has designed and taught numerous courses in Databases, Information Systems, Data Mining and Machine Learning. He has also coordinated and participated in the following projects: OKKAM-Enabling the web of entities (University of Trento, 2008), the Bolzano-Innsburck-Trento (2005-2008) joint project for fostering research and collaboration among the Universities of the three cities, FITTS (2011-2012) dealing with the automatic planning of itineraries for tourists based on Points-of-Interests (POIs) and user preferences. During the summer of 2013 he was a Visiting Professor at the Technical University of Berlin in the Database Systems and Information Management (DIMA) group chaired by Prof. Volker Markl. He is a senior member of the IEEE Computer Society and the Association for Computing Machinery. Within the Faculty of Information, Professor Andritsos is planning to continue applying his multi-disciplinary expertise on the analysis of big data sources and the gain of intelligence and explanation after the application of existing and new data mining techniques. Current web-page: http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~periklis

http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~periklis



Twylla Bird-Gayson, MSW (York): IHPME Lecturer Twylla Bird-Gayson is the Director of the MHI Program. She has provided research coordination and project management in clinical and health services research, as well as consultation in the areas of program evaluation and health informatics development for children’s mental health and hospital based psychiatric care. Her current research interests include development and use of health informatics in mental health as well as health informatics curriculum development and education. She is responsible for the practicum component of the program and a co-instructor in MHI2008H Project Management for Health Informatics. Richard Booth, RN, BScN (McMaster), MScN (Western), PhD Candidate (Western): Lecturer Richard Booth is a doctoral candidate and lecturer at Western University studying clinician learning and adoption of health technology. He works clinically as a psychiatric-mental health nurse in the adult psychosis program at St. Joseph’s Health Care London. In the past, he has acted as a consultant on various health informatics projects for both educational institutions and healthcare organizations. Currently, he is a lecturer at Western University in the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, and continues to co-instructs a graduate health informatics course at the University of Toronto. His research interests also include socio-technical perspectives, social media, and health informatics. W: http://publish.uwo.ca/~rbooth5 Twitter: @rbooth5 Joseph Cafazzo, BASc, MHSc, PEng, PhD (Toronto): IHPME Associate Professor Dr. Joseph Cafazzo is Lead for the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, a state-of-the-art research facility devoted to the evaluation and design of healthcare technology, hosting seventy researchers and staff. As a biomedical engineer, he has spent his entire career in a hospital setting. By observing healthcare delivery from the inside, he works on ways to keep people out of hospital by creating technologies that allow for self-care at home. At the same time, Dr. Cafazzo and his team are the biggest critics of poorly designed health technologies and their ineffectiveness. He surrounds himself with whip-smart, and passionate engineers and designers who are creating technologies that are spirited, modern, people-focused, and truly improve the patient experience. Dr. Cafazzo is an active researcher of the use of technology to facilitate patient self-care of complex chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, end-stage renal disease, and congestive heart failure. He has advised and conducted research for public sector policy makers and private sector medical technology companies on the design and safety of technology in healthcare. Dr. Cafazzo founded Healthcare Human Factors at the University Health Network - the largest group of its kind devoted to the application of human factors engineering to problems of healthcare delivery and patient safety. Dr. Cafazzo teaches and conducts research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, and the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. He is a recipient of the Career Scientist award by the

http://publish.uwo.ca/~rbooth5



Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care and is Clinical Lead, Design and Engineering, of the newly established Techna Institute at the University Health Network. Rhonda Cockerill, PhD (Edinburgh): IHPME Professor and Graduate Coordinator Rhonda Cockerill is Professor, Associate Chair and Graduate Coordinator for the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. Her research interests include evaluation of community based programs. She teaches in the areas of quantitative methods and program planning and evaluation. She is the Regional Director for EXTRA/FORCES (Executive Training for Research Application Formation en recherche pour cadres qui exercent dans la santé) Imtiaz Daniel: IHPME Lecturer Imtiaz received his PhD in Health Services Research from the University of Toronto and holds a Masters in Health Administration, a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a Certified Management Accountant (CMA). He is a senior consultant at the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) and was the Strategist, Quality-Based Funding at Health Quality Ontario and Research Director at Ontario Health Quality Council. In his career, he has held management roles in various hospitals in Ontario. Imtiaz serves on various provincial advisory committees on health system funding, health system costing, data quality and health system performance measurement. A significant part of his career was spent developing indicators to measure health system performance using various datasets including Ontario Hospital Reporting System (OHRS), National Ambulatory Care System (NACRS), Discharge Abstract Dataset (DAD) and Ontario Cost Distribution Methodology (OCDM). He worked on the development of casemix systems including the National Rehabilitation System and the Ontario Mental Health Reporting System and their associated weighting systems. Imtiaz has been involved in various research projects including health system performance, costing and funding models and measurement of patient experiences and outcomes. He lectures on the OHA certification course on Ontario Hospital Reporting System (OHRS).

Olesya Falunchuk, M Ed (Rutgers), PhD (Toronto): IHPME Lecturer Olesya Falunchuck received her PhD in Measurement and Evaluation from the University of Toronto and also holds an M.Ed. in Educational Statistics, Measurement and Evaluation from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in 2001. As a consultant at the Research Design and Analysis services at OISE, she has been involved in a variety of research projects of intervention and observational nature that require quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methodology. Her interests include research methodology, design of data collection instruments, qualitative and quantitative data analysis, and effective methods for communicating research results. Olesya also teaches a variety of research methodology and statistics courses on St.George campus.



Lynn Tkac, RN, BA (York), MHS (Athabasca): IHPME Lecturer Lynn Tkac is a Project Manager at Rouge Valley Health System, an acute care community hospital serving east Toronto and west Durham region. She has over 30 years experience in the health care sector, with a current focus on clinical informatics. Lynn provides clinical leadership that supports the evolution of the electronic health record (EHR), and represents health care professionals in the planning and implementation of projects promoting electronic access to and management of information that supports quality patient care. Lynn is also actively engaged in efforts to promote the EHR regionally and provincially, serving on several advisory boards and informatics interest groups. Lynn is aPast President of the Ontario Nursing Informatics Group. She is a founding member of the Canadian Nursing Informatics Association and is on the editorial board of the association’s journal. Lynn is a Registered Nurse, with a BA (Health Studies) from York University, and a Master of Health Studies, Athabasca University. Patricia Trbovich, PhD (Carlton): IHPME Assistant Professor Patricia Trbovich is the Research Lead within the HumanEra Team at the University Health Network. She is Assistant Professor of Clinical Engineering in the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, and of Health Informatics in the Department of Health, Policy, Management and Evaluation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Her areas of expertise include human factors engineering and patient safety. She has conducted extensive research on how to design technologies and workflow processes that meet the needs of heath care professionals. Her current research focus includes improving patient safety in outpatient chemotherapy environments, assessing the risks associated with intravenous medication administration, and providers’ compliance with evidence-based guidelines. She has also conducted extensive research on Mitigation of Interruptions on Delivery of High-Risk Medical Procedures. Aviv Shachak, PhD (Bar-Ilan, Israel): IHPME/iSchool Assistant Professor Assistant Professor Aviv Shachak is cross-appointed to the Faculty of Information (iSchool) and the Faculty of Medicine’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME). His research work seeks to improve usage and help realizing the potential benefits of information systems and resources, especially in health care and biomedicine. This includes the study, design, and evaluation of educational interventions, tutorials and user manuals, user interfaces, and end-user support. He teaches the two overview courses MHI2001 and MHI2002 (Health Informatics I and II, respectively) on the MHI program and a session of INF1005/6 (Information workshop) on the Master of Information (MI) program at the iSchool.

Sara Urowitz, PhD (University of Toronto): IHPME Assistant Professor Dr. Urowitz is the Manager of the Educational Informatics program for Oncology Education at the Princess Margaret Hospital University Health Network and an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Urowitz holds a doctorate in Health Policy, and Masters of Social Work and Arts (Bioethics). Dr.Urowitz's research expertise is in quantitative methodologies with a particular focus on survey development and implementation. Currently, Dr. Urowitz has focused her research on issues related to health care consumerism and patient empowerment. She is involved in several studies that explore different approaches for empowering people with chronic illnesses (cancer) to be active participants in their own.



David Wiljer, PhD (University of Toronto): IHPME Assistant Professor David Wiljer is Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Director, Continuing Education, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto; Associate Member, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto; Director, Knowledge Management and Innovation, Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Hospital/UHN as well as an Assistant Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. His clinical interests include: Self-managed access to personalized health information through e-health records; Survivorship; Improving knowledge exchange through new technologies and Patient education. Current research projects in which he is involved are: Building recipes and Understanding Nutrition for Cancer-survivor Health (BRUNCH); Innovative Symptom Management in Cancer Care; and developing a conceptual framework of patient mediated knowledge transition. A. Paul Williams, PhD (York): Professor A. Paul Williams is Full Professor of Health Policy, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME); Director, MSc./PhD. Program in Health Services Research (HSR), IHPME; and Full Member, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. Paul teaches graduate courses on health systems and health policy to health practitioners, administrators, policy analysts and policy-makers nationally and internationally. He currently leads a web-enabled multi-university comparative health policy course (covering Canada, US and Mexico) focusing on national responses to population aging, and the extent to which responses in one country context can successfully be “transferred” to another. He leads the Balance of Care (BoC) Research Group, a collaborative of established academic researchers and senior graduate students. The group uses mixed methods to examine key issues of access to and the cost-effectiveness of community-based programs, services and supports which play a crucial role in maintaining the wellbeing, autonomy and functional capacity of vulnerable groups and individuals including older persons at risk of institutionalization (and their informal caregivers); persons with disabilities; children with chronic health needs living in the community; and members of emerging or marginalized communities defined by sexual orientation, ethnicity and race (including First Nations). Paul is also Co-Chair of the Canadian Research Network for Care in the Community (www.CRNCC.ca), a dynamic partnership of researchers, community service providers, consumers and policy-makers which promotes research and knowledge transfer in home and community care. Eric Yu, PhD (Toronto): iSchool Associate Professor Professor Yu received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Toronto and was appointed to the Faculty of Information (iSchool) in 1995. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto, a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo and held positions in hardware, software and services development at the technology division of Nortel Networks (Bell-Northern Research) in Ottawa. His research interests include information systems analysis and design, software engineering, and knowledge management, and particularly, the strategic modeling of social processes and technical systems. He has authored or co-authored more than 30 articles in journals, and conference and workshop proceedings. Professor Yu has served on the program committees for more than a dozen international

http://www.crncc.ca/



conferences and workshops, and is co-chair of the International Workshop on Agent-Oriented Information Systems. He is a Principal Investigator in research projects funded by NSERC, CITO, IRIS, Bell Canada, Mitel Corp., and IBM Canada, on agent-oriented software engineering, network computing, and strategic modelling for knowledge management. For more information check Dr. Yu's website. Julia Zarb, PhD (Toronto): IHPME Lecturer Julia Zarb is an Adjunct Lecturer with IHPME and the MHI program. She has spent 17 years in healthcare information technology strategy and leadership roles in USA and Canada, bringing into play best practices gained through national-scale commercialization, marketing and stakeholder engagement initiatives. Julia led the strategy firm, Zarb Consulting, with clients including Allscripts (National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative), Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS & National Health IT Week), Partners’ Healthcare, American College of Cardiology, and Allergan/Botox® Therapeutic. Julia also served in executive management roles in US and Canadian firms, including A4 Health Systems, where she built brand recognition to the point of ranking as third in the Electronic Health Record industry category. Julia was a founding leader of both National Health IT Week and the Electronic Health Record Vendor Association (EHRA). She has contributed to a variety of industry reports, roadmaps, task forces, and workgroups, including the HIMSS HL7 & IHE Interoperability Collaborative and HIMSS Katrina Phoenix. Julia received a PhD in communications theory from the University of Toronto.

http://www3.fis.utoronto.ca/faculty/yu/



4. MHI Program Information

4.1 Program Overview

Health Informatics (HI) is a discipline that deals with the collection, storage, retrieval, communication and optimal use of health related data, information and knowledge. It recognizes the role of citizens in their own health care as well as the information handling roles of the healthcare professionals, and is now considered a critically essential and pervasive element in sustainable health care delivery. There is a recognized need for the advancement and teaching of knowledge about the application of information and communication technologies to healthcare - the place where health, information and computer sciences, psychology, epidemiology and engineering intersect.

A Master of Health Informatics (MHI) is a full-time, professional graduate degree program offered by the Graduate Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) in the Faculty of Medicine with faculty members cross-appointed from the Faculty of Information (iSchool) at the University of Toronto. The MHI vision is to more comprehensively integrate the broad spectrum of Health Informatics domains in a world-class graduate level program. The MHI is intended for health sciences practitioners, health professionals and computer or information technologists who share an interest in converging their strengths and skills in the application of clinical, information and communication technologies for solving problems and driving change in health care systems to improve health outcomes. The academic goal is to produce clinically and technically savvy solution architects capable of bridging the knowledge and cultural gaps that are pervasive in the clinical and health care delivery sectors.

MHI graduates will be prepared to pursue careers as health systems managers and information specialists developing strategy, creating policy and performing high level decision making (requiring the greatest breadth); providing system analysis, assessment, solution architecture and project management (requiring breadth and depth); or develop, implement and manage technological applications and change (requiring the greatest depth) across the full spectrum of the organizational, clinical and technology structures of the health and health care delivery system. Further, MHI graduates will be enabled to comfortably function across a broad spectrum of health care domains (clinical, medical, community, technological, etc.) in terms of language/jargon, culture, policies, psychosocial and organizational systems.

Graduates of the MHI program will first understand, internalize and integrate theoretical foundations of Health Informatics component domains and technologies including: health information systems and technology; health care delivery and clinical systems; computer applications, data processing, health enterprise architectures and systems; knowledge management; decision support; human-computer interface; change management, organizational behaviour and leadership. Secondly, they will demonstrate a working knowledge of the interrelated complexity, methods, tools, standard practice and implementation of those technologies. Finally they will exhibit the capacity to generalize those skills in novel and context-specific ways to improvise or create innovative and custom solutions to health care system problems.



4.2 The MHI Structure

The Institute of IHPME delivers the MHI Program in a course only full time format. Beginning in September 2008, with the participation of the Faculty of Information (iSchool), the full-time program requires the completion of 10 FCE courses, including a 600 hour practicum, over four consecutive terms (16 months). A full-time learner starting in September 2010 will complete the requirements of the degree in December 2011.

4.3 Program Philosophy: Problem Based Learning

Learning in the Program is problem-based and instruction takes a variety of formats, allowing learners to explore and apply subject material with assistance and guidance from faculty. A primary feature of the Program is that the majority of classroom time is devoted to small group activities so that students can put concepts into practice. All courses, as well as the Program overall, have clearly articulated learning outcomes that, in combination, permit the student to develop specific health informatics competencies. As well, there is a comprehensive evaluation and feedback mechanism that allows instructors, courses and the Program to benefit from ongoing improvement.

4.4 Learners

Students in the MHI program come from a diversity of backgrounds that are reflective of the broad scope of the health care delivery sector itself: health sciences (e.g., physicians, nurses, lab technicians, radiologists, social workers, or other allied health professionals); health administration (Health Services Professionals and Administrators); and computer and information sciences and technology (e.g., computer science specialists, health related software vendors and developers, engineers, and information technologists). The program seeks to identify the complementary skill sets among the diverse health informatics students, converge them within a singular cohort to develop the Health Informatics professional identity, then expand on the specialized skills required in specific Health Informatics roles and functions that occur across the full spectrum of the organizational, clinical and technology structures of the health and health care delivery systems. Initially, the program will introduce the theoretical and practical knowledge of HI domains such as clinical care and information and communication technology (ICT) to level the knowledge and experience of students from diverse professional backgrounds. Then in broad survey as well as practice and experiential based courses, the program will a) expand and strengthen theoretical and practical knowledge relevant to key curricular domains in the Health Informatics discipline, and b) facilitate student cohort cohesion, dynamic interaction and vicarious learning opportunities; thus establishing coherent professional identify within the student cohort. Finally, through a domain specific elective and advanced seminar courses, and in consideration of their interests, strengths and dynamic market demand, students will uniquely re-diversify their academic program, either more broadly or more in depth. Small group and problem-based learning provide a highly interactive environment that allows students to benefit from each other’s experiences through challenging group discussion.



4.5 Expectations of Students

There are some inherent expectations that are held of the students coming into the full time MHI Program. Some of the broader Program expectations are outlined below, and many of the details concerning implementation of these points are covered later in this document under MHI Program Operations.

• Students entering the MHI Program commit to progressing at a steady pace with the expectation that they will complete the Program within the sixteen month framework implemented over four consecutive sessions or terms. If, in exceptional circumstances, it becomes necessary to modify the pace, the student should contact the Program Director as quickly as possible.

• Student commitment should extend beyond the pace of progress through the Program to ensuring full attendance, preparation and participation at class times. Attendance and participation are critical to the learning process. There are specific assignments for pre-class work that, if not done, would disadvantage a student arriving for class. Additionally, assignments for credit are often done in class, and in groups. Missing these will result in a gap in the learning experience for all participants in the class. All work missed during a class period will have to be made up at a time convenient to the instructor.

• Our current estimate for class preparation work is 25 to 35 hours per week. This will vary by skill level and by subject for each individual and will be evaluated on a continual basis so faculty can modify as appropriate.

• The commitment for successful completion of the Program extends beyond the student to fellow students, instructors, and the student’s family or support network.

• Much of the course work will be done in groups. Group work allows students to create a living laboratory, and to replicate the working environment in the health services sector. Frequently, Health Informaticians must work in interdisciplinary teams. Groups are formed to address specific issues or solve specific problems. We think that developing group skills is one of the most important features of the MHI Program.

• There is an expectation for computer competency. We expect all students to have access to a computer and high speed internet service at home, and highly recommend the use of a notebook for in-class group work. Word processing, Excel spreadsheet and statistical manipulations, and communication using the Internet are viewed as a basic skill set for students entering the Program.

• There is an expectation that all students will have access to Email and the Internet for program communication, coordination, and collaboration. In addition, each student is required to have a University of Toronto email address which will be used for all program communication.

• There is an expectation that people with diverse backgrounds will bring and share their experiences in an open, exploring environment.



4.6 Program Schedule

The MHI Program requires that each student take 10 full credits where each one term course counts as one-half credit (except for MHI2005Y: Practicum, which is equal to two credits). It will take most students 16 months to complete the program. That period is broken into four consecutive Sessions of study, each one more or less coincidental with the traditional academic term, and each containing 2.5 Full Credit Equivalents (FCE). This will consist of 5 half courses in each of Session I (Fall 10), II (Winter 11) and IV (Fall 11), along with a Practicum (2.0 FCE) and 1 half course in Session III (Summer 11).

Session 1: Sep 9 – Dec 6 Session 3: May 5 - Aug 29 Session 2: Jan 6 – Apr 11 Session 4: Sep 4th - Dec 5

4.7 Program Curriculum

The sequencing of the courses throughout the Program provides for the more fundamental material to be offered near the beginning and for increasing levels of course choice being available toward the end of the Program. By the time students engage in the practicum, they have completed ten core half-courses, providing a firm grounding in current health informatics components and issues.

The course sequence, with the name of the course instructor, is listed below. All are half-credit courses (0.5 FCE) unless otherwise indicated.

SESSION I September to December YEAR I Course # Course FCE Faculty

MHI1001H

Information and Communication Technology for Health Care This course will introduce the fundamental concepts of information and communication technology for those students with a non-technical background. The course will cover material that is relevant to health informatics and focus on the understanding of hardware and software systems. The proper design and specification of health information systems will be emphasized. The purpose of this course is to provide the students a sufficient background to understand the technical details of healthcare ICTs and apply their knowledge in the design and specification of systems.

0.5 J. Cafazzo

MHI1002H

Complexity of Clinical Care This course has been designed to provide non-clinicians (or International clinicians) with an overview of the clinical aspects of the Canadian health care system, focusing on the flow of health information amongst and between interdisciplinary health care providers in a variety of settings. The course will alternate between lectures/seminars (50%) and clinical site visits (50%), with relevant readings assigned as needed. Students will be exposed to clinical cases across the lifespan, covering major body systems and health care settings. Emphasis will be placed on the relationship between patients, providers, and health information, using complexity theory as a framework.

0.5 R. Booth L. Tkac



SESSION I September to December YEAR I Course # Course FCE Faculty

MHI2001H

Health Informatics I This course is designed to provide an overview of basic concepts and recurrent themes in Health Informatics (HI)- an emergent discipline that deals with the collection, storage, retrieval communication and use of health related data, information and knowledge. It will explore a number of topics central to understanding of the field including the history of and motivation for HI, Biomedical data, information and knowledge, information systems design for the health care domain, and organizational and societal issues

0.5 A. Shachak

INF1003H

Information Systems, Services and Design Fundamental perspectives and skills necessary for sound technical judgment about the place of information and communication technologies in contemporary society. Critical analysis of the design fabrication, deployment, use, and maintenance of information systems and services. Analysis of modeling, architecture, implementation, inclusive access, modularity, life-cycle, and interoperability. Use of and familiarity with programming languages, databases, interfaces, interactive technologies. Critical methods and analytic techniques from Science and Technology Studies and related disciplines.

0.5 P. Andritsos

INF1341H

Analyzing Information Systems In the information systems world, the system analyst acts as the intermediary between technical system developers on the one hand, and business managers and users on the other. Techniques have been developed to enable them to analyze business situations and communicate requirements to technical developers. With the rapidly changing role of IT in today's organizations, there is also need to rethink the methods and techniques used in systems analysis. This course will cover traditional system analysis methods as well as recent developments. Modelling approaches will include process modeling, data modeling, object modeling, and strategic modelling. Strengths and limitations of various techniques will be examined.

0.5 E. Yu

SESSION II January to April YEAR I

Course # Course FCE Faculty

MHI2002H

Health Informatics II This course provides an overview of applications of ICT to health care and biomedicine. Potential and actual benefits as well as the challenges associated with these applications will be discussed. Topics include Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE), patient care systems, telehealth, clinical Decision Support Systems (DSS) and bioinformatics.

0.5 A. Shachak

MHI2003H

Consumer and Public Health Informatics The course will give an overview of: 1) how information technology and consumer health informatics are becoming an integral part of modern concepts of public health and national healthcare policies in many developed countries; and 2) consumer and public health informatics applications, and also touch on public health informatics applications which specifically deals with population-level data collected and analyzed for or by public health professionals, for example for surveillance purposes.

0.5 TBD



SESSION II January to April YEAR I Course # Course FCE Faculty

MHI2007H

Quantitative Skills in Health Informatics This course is designed to give students a working knowledge of selected statistical analysis techniques relevant to Health Informatics. Specifically, the course covers statistical methods normally found in health informatics work applications: analysis of variance for one-way and multi-way data with fixed, mixed and random effects models; linear and multiple regression; multiple correlation, analysis of covariance, repeated-measures analyses. In addition, students will learn about survey sampling, experimental design, and power analysis. The emphasis will be placed on conceptual understanding of statistical techniques and their application to address real problems.

0.5 O. Falenchuck

INF2183H

Knowledge Management and Systems The course aims to expose students to the issues of knowledge management in organizations and across communities, and to provide opportunities to learn and apply modelling and analytical techniques to understand the use of various types of information technologies in meeting organizational knowledge management needs.

0.5 E. Yu

MHI2004H

Human Factors and Change Management The purpose of this course is to provide the students with a sufficient background to understand the technical, organizational and individual issues associated with the changes related to the introduction of clinical computing solutions. It will address the socio-technical challenges of introducing information and communication technology into healthcare settings as well as cover contrasting strategies in the successful adoption and deployment of systems by introducing the fundamental concepts of human factors and the principles and strategies associated with organizational change management.. The course will focus on psycho-social and behavioural issues and how they affect the design and usability considerations related to clinical applications and devices.

0.5 J. Cafazzo E. Seto P. Trbovich

SESSION III May to August YEAR I Course # Course FCE Faculty

MHI2008H

Project Management This web-based course covers the strategic, organizational and operational aspects of managing projects. Students learn to manage the technical, behavioural, political and cultural aspects of temporary groups performing unique tasks. Topics covered include: defining deliverables, formulating project strategy, effective group organization and management, dynamically allocating resources, managing without authority, and resolving conflict. Traditional cost and time management techniques are covered using contemporary software packages.

0.5 J. Alleyne T. Bird-Gayson

MHI2005Y

PRACTICUM The 4-month practicum will provide an opportunity to apply the theory and knowledge gained in course work directly in a health informatics related organization. Organizations can include health care delivery settings, vendors, associations, consulting firms, or government departments. Students are required to spend a minimum of 600 hours involved in appropriate, supervised field practice. Prior to their placement, students are assessed with regards to their academic and professional strengths and weaknesses as well as their career goals and aspirations, and are matched with current preceptor organizations and projects accordingly. Attendance in Group Dynamics and Leadership Workshops offered in the Session II are required prior to placement.

2.0 T. Bird-Gayson



SESSION IV September to December YEAR II Course # Course FCE Faculty

HAD5010H

Canada’s Health System and Health Policy I This course critically analyzes key issues and trends in Canada’s health care system using an analytic “tool kit” derived from the fields of health policy analysis and public administration. Course sections examine the current state of health care in Canada, the public-private mix, the roles of powerful interest groups, and the shift toward home and community care, paying particular attention to the ideas, interests, and institutions which have shaped the Canadian health care system in the past and which now shape its future. HAD5010H is designed for health professionals and students of health policy who need to make sense of a rapidly changing and increasingly politicized health care environment in which evidence is often only one, but rarely the most important factor driving change.

0.5 P. Williams

MHI2009H MHI3000H*

Evaluation Methods for Health Informatics This course is designed to demystify the evaluation process and give students the tools to build a solid evaluation plan for every new eHealth project. The goal of the course is to provide the theory, principles and best practices for evaluating health information systems and assessing the benefits. Course objectives include to understand the various approaches, tools and techniques used to evaluate health information systems; appropriately apply evaluation and research tools required to implement an evaluation plan; and formulate and assess the merits of a health information system evaluation plan based on project objectives and goals. In terms of scope, this course will focus on evaluation and research approaches and techniques for evaluating system requirements and system impact post implementation. The course will not focus on usability and system design as those aspects are covered elsewhere.

0.5 D. Wiljer S. Urowitz

HAD5728H

Performance Measurement in Health Care The course will provide an overview of different models for performance measurement, indicator development strategies and a discussion of issues specific to several stakeholder groups in health care delivery.

0.5 I. Daniel

MHI2006H

Advanced Topics in e-Health Innovation (Health & Clinical Information Systems) This will be a weekly seminar course that will explore the basics as well as the advanced nuances of a broad spectrum of topics in the eHealth Innovation and Information Management. Students will be responsible to work on their own as well as within a group analyzing eHealth development. The course is comprised of the following: (1) a comprehensive review of the key concepts and theories from information theory which have been applied, or have viable application potential, to management in the health services industry, (2) identify and critically analyze the strengths and weakness of varying “traditions” in eHealth and information management, (3) critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of varying methodologies used to study issues in health services, and (4) prepare the student to formulate and clearly articulate relevant, topical questions and to develop viable strategies by which to address them.

0.5 J. Zarb

TBA Elective 0.5

TOTAL FCE IN PROGRAM 10.0



4.8 Program Outcomes and Competencies

The MHI Program curriculum is designed and sequenced to provide for the development of fundamental health informatics competencies. These learning outcomes are used as guidelines and they are listed here to provide students with an overview of the knowledge, understanding and skills viewed to be central to the Program: Graduates of this program will demonstrate the following learning outcomes: • comprehensive knowledge of health care delivery policies and systems • understand and communicate how effective use of information within health

systems improves health and medical processes with the goal to facilitate successful outcomes for health care consumers.

• knowledge and skills required to contribute to the development of information

and communication technology infrastructure supporting health care, such as point-of-care informatics applications, electronic health records and other ICT

• ability to facilitate the design and implementation of effective and efficient

methods and processes for acquiring, processing and storing data • ability to develop appropriate models for evaluating information systems,

classification systems, health ICT systems and the quality of health information services

• knowledge of and sensitivity to the protection of patient confidentiality and

privacy • analyze data, produce information and transfer knowledge that meets the

needs of clinicians, managers and decision makers • critically analyze systemic, organizational and cultural issues associated with

the implementation of e-health initiatives across the clinical, medical, community, and technological domains of health care

• provide leadership; develop interpersonal relations; engage in conflict

resolution; as well as articulate ideas with impeccable oral and written communications skills

• manage change in health care organizations from diverse communities

drawing on the social and behavioural sciences • engage in the evaluation of both business and health care delivery practices

focusing on structure, process and outcomes measurement and improvement



5. MHI Program Operations Listed below (in alphabetical order) are several operational and policy items important to your course of study. Please be sure to review them all.

5.1 Associations

COACH: Canada’s Health Informatics Association

COACH is an organization dedicated to promoting a clear understanding of health informatics within the Canadian health system through education, information, networking and communication.

COACH was formed in 1975 by several health professionals and vendors in the medical industry, who recognized that significant sharing of ideas and efforts must take place in order to enable Canadian health institutions to effectively use information technology and systems. The focus, 30 years later, has expanded to include not only the technology and the systems, but also the effective use of health information for decision-making.

COACH has a membership of more than 1,300 individuals who range from healthcare executives, physicians, nurses and allied health professionals, researchers and educators to CIOs, information managers, technical experts, consultants, and information technology vendors. Organizations represented cover the full range of healthcare service delivery, government and non-government agencies, consulting firms, commercial providers of information and telecommunications technologies, and educational institutions.

COACH believes in the importance and the value of strategic alliances with other organizations involved in the field of health informatics in Canada and internationally. It is committed to building a strong international network in health informatics through international organizations such as the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA), and other national associations around the world. COACH is pleased to be Canada's official representative to IMIA.

COACH is the resource for the health informatics industry in Canada!

www.coachorg.com

AMIA: American Medical Informatics Association AMIA advances the informatics professions relating to health and disease. To this end it advances the use of health information and communications technology in clinical care and clinical research, personal health management, public health/population, and translational science with the ultimate objective of improving health. www.amia.org

http://www.coachorg.com/

http://www.amia.org/



CNIA: Canadian Nursing Informatics Association Nursing Informatics “integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, and knowledge in nursing practice. Nursing informatics facilitates the integration of data, information, and knowledge to support clients, nurses, and other providers in their decision-making in all roles and settings." (Staggers & Bagley-Thompson, 2002). The Canadian Nursing Informatics Association (CNIA) exists to help nurses across Canada to learn, share, research, and create informatics-related projects and experiences that can help to boost the competencies, theory, and practice of informatics on a national level. The CNIA is also affiliated with COACH, Canada's National Health Informatics Association. Through this strategic alliance CNIA is the Canadian nursing nominee to the International Medical Informatics Association - Special Interest Group in Nursing Informatics (IMIA-SIGNI). http://cnia.ca/ The Society of Graduates in Health Policy, Management and Evaluation The Institute benefits from a strong alumni association. The executive of the Society rotates on an annual basis and senior managers from a variety of organizations are involved in providing leadership to the group. The Society supports the MHI Program in a variety of ways, including convening its annual Education Day, and by holding its Annual Recognition Dinner in the fall of each year. The Society executive has representatives from both the first and second year classes in the Program. During Session I you will be asked to nominate a representative. The current President is Anne Wojtak.

http://www.ihpme.utoronto.ca/for/alumni.htm

5.2 Attendance

Full attendance, preparation and participation are required for all in-class sessions of the program. Students are expected to be available for classes and all required program events (e.g., workshops, group studies) any time Monday to Friday throughout each Session. This policy is necessary because:

• Absence from any one session would result in a gap in the learning experience;

• There are specific assignments for pre-class work that, if not done, would disadvantage the learner, and their group, during the class session; and

• Assignments for credit are often done in class, and in groups.

You will find a schedule of class dates for both Year 1 and Year 2 of the Program in Section 6.2. Please mark these in your calendar and ensure that you are available to attend classes on these dates. We recognize that there may be valid reasons of illness and other major circumstances which prevent full attendance. Since all missed classes and assignments will have to be made up, we ask that you phone or email the Instructor

http://cnia.ca/

http://www.hpme.utoronto.ca/for/alumni.htm



and Program Director in advance and also provide the Instructor with written documentation supporting your reasons for absence; otherwise a grade penalty may be imposed.

5.3 Blackboard Portal – E-Learning

What is Blackboard? The Portal is powered by the Blackboard Academic Suite. The integrated suite includes the Blackboard learning management system, community portal, document management and e-Commerce modules. The University of Toronto Portal supports your courses with course material, email, discussions and more; supports a diverse online Community; and provides a web place for storing and accessing your files.

Blackboard is an easy-to-use online course delivery and management system. Using Blackboard's graphical point-and-click interface, your instructors can post syllabi, readings, assignments as well as communicate via email, virtual chats or discussion boards.

Additional features include: Course Announcements and Calendar; Online Quizzes and Surveys; Course Study Groups; Online File Exchange; and so much more…

About the Portal http://www.portalinfo.utoronto.ca/

Portal Log in http://portal.utoronto.ca

Hardware Requirements Below are the minimum/maximum requirements for basic use of Blackboard:

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows Apple

Operating System XP, 2000, Vista (32 bit) or 7 OSX 10.5 Leopard, OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard

Internet Connection Any high-speed connection (e.g. Cable Broadband or DSL)

Free Hard Disk Space 100 MB

Audio (Sound) Card 16-bit sound card

Video Card 16 MB VRAM with 65,000 colors or 16-bit

Further information about firewalls, pop-up/spam blockers, plug-Ins, readers and converters, Microsoft Office viewers can be found online: http://www.portalinfo.utoronto.ca/content/information-students

http://www.portalinfo.utoronto.ca/

http://www.portalinfo.utoronto.ca/

http://portal.utoronto.ca/



5.4 Books

Some courses in the Program require a textbook, while others while others provide links to readings through Blackboard (see Section 5.23). Textbooks required for course work have been ordered by the University of Toronto Bookstore located at the corner of College and St. George Streets. Books for the MHI Program can be found in the Community Health part of the Medicine Section at the west end of the main floor. Faculty realize that books are expensive and they have been selective in designating titles for purchase.

5.5 Card Key Access

Each student in the MHI program will be issued a card key that will allow you access to the necessary buildings and classrooms during university off-hours (after 6 p.m. and weekends). The cost of the building access card is $10. When you receive the card at orientation you will be given a form which outlines the areas you will have access to.

Please note, that for security reasons all lost or stolen cards should be reported immediately to Krysia Ketelaars, Database Administrator and Events Coordinator, at 416-978-4326 or [email protected]. Each card is equipped with a reader that is able to assign your name to card key use. If an unreported lost or stolen card is used to damage rooms and/or steal equipment, unfortunately it will be your name that will be reported to campus police.

5.6 Computers

Each student must have a computer for academic and communication purposes. Notebook computers are highly recommended for in-class group work.

The table below provides an example of the type of software recommended to assist the student in the completion and submission of assignments. See Section 5.3 on Blackboard Portal - E-Learning for minimum hardware requirements.

Students may substitute hardware and software, but it is the responsibility of the students to ensure that the alternative hardware and software selected allows them to complete the course work and interface with the University for the purpose of communication.

Software

Windows 2000 or later, Apple OSX 10.5 or higher

Word Processing (Word)

Spreadsheet (Excel)

Presentation Software (PowerPoint)

Statistics (SPSS)

Email (Outlook, UTmail)

Internet Explorer Browser Version 7.0 or higher, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox Version 3.5 or higher, Safari 4.0 or higher

Adobe Acrobat Reader Free www.adobe.com


http://www.adobe.com/



Symantec Antivirus The University is centrally funding the Symantec® Symantec Anti-Virus (SAV) software. It is free to all students enrolled in degree-granting programs of the University for both on and off-campus computers. The software must be removed from the computer when the owner no longer has one of the above relationships with the University.

www.antivirus.utoronto.ca/

Software The Licensed Software Office at the Information Commons offers a variety of software licenses at special educational rates to U of T students.

http://www.utoronto.ca/ic/software/

5.7 Course Registration - ROSI

ROSI (Repository of Student Information - www.rosi.utoronto.ca) contains data relating to students admission and academic performance at the University of Toronto.

It contains information such as mailing/email address, course registration, grades etc. and can be accessed using your Student Number and a Personal Identification Number (PIN), which is a six digit numeric-only code.

Please note that you are responsible for keeping your information such as name, mailing/email address, course registration etc., up to date on ROSI. This is important as all communication with students within the university is done through information accessed from ROSI. Failure to keep ROSI up to date could result in missing some very important information.

Please see Appendix I for instructions for course enrolment on ROSI’s student web service

5.8 Email - UTmail

UTmail is the institutional email service of the University of Toronto providing email access to students, faculty, and staff. Recognized as the first wide scale network service to be deployed cross-campus.

Many students coming to U of T already have their own email address (typically through Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, Sympatico or Rogers). Although your University of Toronto email account can be forwarded to another account this is not recommended as often mail sent by us is treated like spam and is blocked by other email providers. It is encouraged that you use and maintain your University of Toronto email account to ensure all correspondence is received. Students should be aware of the University's Policy on Official Correspondence with Students that states:

“Students are responsible for maintaining and advising the University, on the University's student information system (currently ROSI), of a current and valid postal address as well as the address for a University-issued electronic mail account that meets a standard of service set by the Vice-President and Provost.”

http://www.antivirus.utoronto.ca/

http://www.utoronto.ca/ic/software/

http://www.rosi.utoronto.ca/

http://www.utoronto.ca/govcncl/pap/policies/studentemail.html

http://www.utoronto.ca/govcncl/pap/policies/studentemail.html



“Students have the right to forward their University-issued electronic mail account to another electronic mail service provider address but remain responsible for ensuring that all University electronic message communication sent to the official University-issued account is received and read.” http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies/studentemail.htm

All students are eligible to have a free University of Toronto email address provided through UTmail:

http://help.ic.utoronto.ca/category/3/UTmail.html Please note that you will first need to obtain a University of Toronto TCard (student photo-ID / library card) to register for UTORmail (see Section 5.28 TCard).

How to Create Your UTmail Address http://help.ic.utoronto.ca/content/13/63/en/utorid-activation.html

Using UTmail from Your Home Computer Using UTmail From Your Home Computer From home, most students, faculty, and staff access the Internet (and hence their e-mail) through a commercial ISP. The simplest way of accessing your UTmail is by going through http://email.utoronto.ca . Since this is a web-based service, it can be accessed from any Internet connection (e.g., an Internet café). Many users prefer a more feature-rich e-mail client (like Thunderbird) which requires the user to specify the "electronic" postoffice which processes their UTmail. However, most commercial ISPs require that you specify their (rather than U of T's) electronic postoffice. This can create some confusion. Faculty, staff, and graduate students can, instead, use the U of T VPN Service which creates a direct connection to the U of T network and bypasses this requirement.

5.9 Evaluation

The Program provides several mechanisms for students to provide comment to the faculty on what is working and what could be improved. Faculty encourages you to be as forthright and sincere in your comments as possible. In turn, faculty will listen and respond to your comments.

5.10 Grading

Faculty in each course is responsible for grading assignments, papers, exams and the like. Throughout the Program, if an assignment meets all expectations as laid out by the instructor, it will then receive a B+. If an assignment exceeds expectations, then grades in the A range will apply. If some of the expectations are not met, then lower grades may be assigned. As outlined in the School of Graduate Studies calendar, passing grades range from B- to A+. A preponderance of B or B- grades will lead to a review of a student's progress in the course of study. The Program Director will counsel students if required.

http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies/studentemail.htm

http://email.utoronto.ca/

http://vpn.utoronto.ca/



Group Grades Projects completed on a group basis will be assigned a group grade. This requires all students to participate and contribute in a way that meets group expectations. In some instances faculty may include in the group grade a portion of the mark to be provided by a peer evaluation. In such cases, each student's final grade would be influenced by the perceptions of his or her group colleagues.

In the case where there is no accommodation for peer evaluation and if a group is not working, for whatever reason, each student will be able to raise the issue with the faculty member and/or Program Director, or comment through the regular evaluation forums.

Individual Grades Where a course contains individual and group assignments, each student must successfully pass the individual component of the course (B- minimum grade) in order to obtain a pass for the course as a whole. In turn, no student will fail a course if their individual work merits a pass, but the group work reduces their grade below a B- grade.

5.11 Groups

There will be considerable team learning for both in-class and pre-class assignments. Upon the discretion of the course instructor, you may be pre-assigned to study groups at commencement of the course.

5.12 Internet and Web-Based Learning

The Internet and related web-based educational software (see Section 5.3 Blackboard Portal - E-Learning) are used throughout the Program to provide administrative and academic information to students; simplify the sending and receiving of messages; facilitate communication and collaboration among students working in groups, as well as between students and faculty; and accelerate the submission of papers and the transmission of "helpful" comments. As a research tool, the Internet provides students with off-campus access to library resources (see Section 5.17 my.access) both at the University and elsewhere, helps students find relevant articles and read electronic papers and books.

All students must be able to access the Internet. An Internet connection with DSL or cable modem with a reliable Internet Service Provider (ISP) is recommended.

5.13 Late Assignments

Normally, unless otherwise specified by the course instructor, all late assignments will be assigned a late penalty of one percentage point per day from the grade the paper would have received had it not been late. For example, if a paper graded 81 (A-) was one week late, it would be subject to a penalty of seven percentage points to 74 (B).

We recognize that there may be valid reasons for late assignments. In order for these reasons to be accepted without penalty, they will have to be supported by documentation. In all these cases, be sure to contact the Instructor before the assignment due date. The Instructor will ask you to report in writing your reasons for lateness and to state a revised due date.



Late pre-class work must still be completed but will not receive a grade higher than a B. As with written assignments, grade penalties are waived if valid reasons for lateness are given before class. This policy has been adopted because the pace of the Program demands that work be done on schedule to ensure effective use of class time.

5.14 ListServ

The UTORlist service provides a simple mechanism for distributing information using nothing more than email. It is currently implemented using the ListServ software. ListServs are commonly referred to as mailing lists.

IHPME utilizes two ListServs for incoming MHI students: • MHI13-L – for all incoming Fall 2013 MHI students • HPME-L – for ALL IHPME students (MHI/MHSc/MSc/PhD)

To participate, you will need a valid University of Toronto email. We will collect your email addresses as you update them to UTORmail addresses and look after your enrolment to the ListServs.

5.15 Meeting Rooms

The majority of classes are held in Room 3287 of the Medical Sciences Building (MSB), 1 Kings Cross Circle, University of Toronto. Courses offered through the Faculty of Information Studies (iSchool) will be held in the Bissell Building at 140 St. George Street, or at another location. We will inform you well in advance of any changes in class locations. As well, you can check the MHI Timetables section of the IHPME website:

5.16 my.access – off-campus access to U of T Libraries licensed resources

http://content.library.utoronto.ca/services/myaccess/

If you use e-journals, article indexes, or other licensed web resources provided through the University of Toronto Libraries from an off-campus computer, you'll be asked to log in the first time during each web session that you use a licensed resource. You may choose either your UTORid and password (offering single-sign on to UTORmail, Blackboard, and other UofT web services) or your library card/Tcard barcode and PIN to log in. Why do you have to log in if you are off campus? Under the terms of our agreements, we must restrict the use of e-journals and other licensed web resources to University of Toronto community members. Therefore, if you are using these resources off-campus, we will connect you to your resource via our my.access service for off-campus users. This identifies you (generically and not individually) to the resource-provider as a member of our community. What does my.access mean for you as a user?

• No separate accounts required. Just have your library card handy • No browser configuration required • Available anytime, on any computer and browser worldwide.

More questions? Please see my.access FAQs:

http://content.library.utoronto.ca/services/myaccess/help/faq/faq-myaccess

http://content.library.utoronto.ca/services/myaccess/





5.17 Newsletter – IHPME “In Focus”

IHPME “In Focus” is the newsletter of the Institute of IHPME, keeping health services researchers, decision-makers and providers in touch with the latest health services research, news and events. IHPME In Focus is published via email three to four times per year.

You will receive IHPME In Focus via your UTORmail address. Current and past issues are available online: http://www.ihpme.utoronto.ca/about/institute.htm

5.18 Orientation

Program Orientation will proceed in the fall on September 3th, 2013, with classes beginning on September 9th 2013. The orientation provides critical learning and computer skills that are needed throughout the Program, and attendance is mandatory.

5.19 Other Students

Students in the MHI Program come from a wide range of health sector and/or information and communication technology backgrounds, providing for an exciting mix of perspectives within the classroom setting.

During the Program and throughout your required and elective courses, students will come into contact with a variety of students from other streams and programs. These may include:

• Students starting their second year of the MHI Program and who will be taking courses in a format similar to the first year students.

• MHSc, MSc and PhD students in health administration

• Students in the MIS program at iSchool who take the same courses as MHI students.

• Students taking graduate degrees in other faculties within the University.

5.20 Practicum

MHI2005Y: Practicum is a required component of the MHI Program. During Session III, and in consultation with the Program Director, each student will have a field placement and a preceptor arranged. The student will be attending the placement "full-time" over the summer in 2014. The arrangements and the discussions with the Preceptors will be coordinated by the Program Director who is the Instructor for the Practicum.

5.21 Preceptor

Each student undertaking the Practicum (field placement) is assigned a senior level Manager from the placement organization who acts as the student’s preceptor. In this capacity the preceptor is responsible for overseeing and assuring the quality of the education experience at the placement organization.

http://www.ihpme.utoronto.ca/about/institute.htm



5.22 Presentations - Oral Throughout the Program, students will be asked to make oral presentations of assignments and other materials. In many cases the presentation will be evaluated to form part of your grade. Students should concentrate on developing effective presentation skills. The approach outlined in Whetton, DA & Cameron, KS (1995) Developing Management Skills, (4th Edition), New York, NY: Harper Collins Pub. Inc., are the standard form for presentation throughout the Program. Please review this material as part of your Program preparation.

5.23 Reading Packages Individual course instructors will advise students with respect to reading packages either in class or Blackboard.

5.24 Student Study Areas There are two student study areas on the fourth floor of the Health Sciences Building –

Rooms 490 and 498 respectively. These rooms are only available to IHPME students and require a card key to access them (see Section 5.5). Both rooms are equipped with computers and/or internet connections for laptop use. There is one network printer in each area, along with instructions on how to configure your laptop to connect to the printers. In addition, Room 490 (the larger student study room) has a phone available for outgoing calls only, as well as a kitchen equipped with fridge and microwave. It is the responsibility of each student to clean up after themselves at all times, so that we can maintain the rooms for all student use. Students must supply their own paper in order to use the printer.

5.25 TCard Your permanent University of Toronto TCard is a photo ID smartcard which provides identification for academic purposes, student activities and services, facility access and a Library Card. The TCard also provides users the option to carry cash value in the computer chip, allowing the card to be used to purchase photocopies, computer printing, laundry services, and vending services at select locations on the University of Toronto campuses. The St. George TCard Office is located in the north lobby, Room 2054A, 2nd floor, Robarts Research Library, 130 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1A5.

• http://www.utoronto.ca/tcard/

5.26 UTORid For new students, your UTORid is on your TCard. Your UTORid (with password) is your key to a number of services:

• Blackboard Portal • UTmail • My.access • UTORweb: personal webpages (http://www.utoronto.ca/ns/utorweb/)

http://www.utoronto.ca/tcard/where.html

http://www.utoronto.ca/tcard/where.html

http://www.utoronto.ca/tcard/

http://www.utoronto.ca/ns/utorweb/



5.27 Wireless Zone – UofT (campus wireless network)

The University of Toronto campus wireless network (UofT) allows laptop computers to connect to the campus network using wireless/radio frequency technology. The campus wireless network does not support cellular technologies, but does support some wired connections via docking ports. Wherever UofT exists the 802.11b standard will be supported. As other standards emerge they may be added to some locations.

The IHPME Student Study Areas have UofT wireless access.

Coverage maps and setup information can be found at: http://www.wireless.utoronto.ca.

5.28 Written Assignments

All written assignments should be word-processed. One page of written work means a single sided sheet of 8 ½" x 11" paper, double-spaced in 12-point font, with 1" margins (approximately 250 words per page). Appendices and bibliographies are not counted within a page limit.

Written assignments should have an Executive Summary of no greater length than 10 percent of the total pages in a paper. Therefore, a 10-page paper should have a 1-page Executive Summary, whereas a 40-page paper could have a 4-page Executive Summary.

Sample Written Assignment

Executive Summary • Consider importance to reader • Sometimes the only part read! • Should arouse interest • Sense of urgency • Prioritizes issue(s)/recommendations • Defines extent of problem Purpose • Summarizes key content • Aids comprehension

Content (one paragraph each) • Problem/issue statement • Relevant background information • Methodology • Action options • Implications of options • Key findings/conclusions • Key recommendations

Written assignments should be produced using a consistent style as outlined in The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th edition), Washington DC: APA, 2001. The manual can be purchased from the University Bookstore and is also available through the library.

http://www.wireless.utoronto.ca/



5.29 Ethical Guidelines for the Recruitment of Key Informants/Expert Contacts for Field-based Projects and Assignments and Obtaining Verbal Informed Consent

For all field based assignments/projects involving key informant interviews of expert contacts and/or collection of secondary administrative data such as organizational planning documents, administrative reports etc., students in the MHI Program at the University of Toronto are required to obtain informed verbal consent, and identify the following information to participants:

• that they are a University of Toronto graduate student(s) in the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation enrolled in the MHI Program;

• relationship (if any) of the student(s) to the organization/key informant e.g. employee, employees of competitor or partner organizations;

• purpose of interview e.g. description of assignment/project;

• length of interview;

• how information will be used e.g. paper and/or oral presentation;

• confidentiality and anonymity re key informants e.g. no informant will be identified by name, position or area of responsibility unless they have expressly given permission to do so.

Key informants include senior and/or mid-level health services managers, professionals, planners, policy makers, etc. In other words, expert contacts that are selected based on their knowledge of the organization, process or specific population. Interviews with patients and clients are not permitted for course work and would require that the project and/or assignment be submitted through the University of Toronto for ethics approval first.

Please also note that if a copy of your assignment is requested by the organization it must have a cover page that clearly states the purpose of the document (e.g. Assignment for MHI1002H: Complexities of Clinical Care) and that the authors are graduate Masters of Health Informatics students at the University of Toronto.



6. Graduate Institute of IHPME 2013-2014 Fall/Winter/Spring-Summer Timetable The timetable is subject to last minute changes. Please check our website at: www.ihpme.utoronto.ca.

6.1 Important Dates/Deadlines

Note: Some dates are listed earlier than in the SGS Calendar to permit time for processing forms. Please adhere to the dates listed below.

August 30 Last date for payment of tuition fees to meet registration deadline

September 3,4 Graduate Institute Health Informatics Orientation

September 13

Last date to register with School of Graduate Studies. After this date a late registration fee will be assessed.

September 9 Classes begin – Session I

September 13 Course work must be completed and grades submitted for summer session courses and extended courses

September 22 Enrolment on ROSI for Fall Session courses must be completed

October 28 Final date to drop September session courses without academic penalty

December 6 Last day of classes – Session I

January 6 Start of classes - Session II

January 19 Enrolment on ROSI for Winter Session courses must be completed

January 15 September session grades available for viewing on Student Web Service

February 24 Final date for receipt of program changes and drop January Session courses without academic penalty

April 11 Last day of classes – Session II

May (first week) Start of Practicum and Project Management class – Session III

May 11 Enrolment for summer courses must be completed.

June 20 Final date to drop May session courses without academic penalty

July (last week) Last day of Project Management Course

August (last week) Last day of Practicum – Session III

September 2 Classes begin – Session IV




7. Contact Information

All faculty and staff have voice mail and email. Here, for your convenience, is a Institutional Listing of all Program faculty and administrative staff.

Program Faculty Faculty Name Phone E-mail

Joel Alleyne [email protected]

Periklis Andritsos (416) 946-5363 [email protected]

Twylla Bird-Gayson (416) 946-8131 [email protected]

Richard Booth (519) 200-2773 [email protected]

Joseph Cafazzo (416) 340-4800 x 3634 [email protected]

Imtiaz Daniel [email protected]

Olesya Falenchuck (416) 978-1076 [email protected].

Aviv Shachak (416) 978-0998 [email protected]

Tina Smith (416) 946-3023 [email protected]

Lynn Tkac [email protected]

Patricia Trbovich [email protected]

Sara Urowitz (416) 581-8616 [email protected]

David Wiljer [email protected]

Paul Williams (416) 978-8327 [email protected]

Eric Yu (416) 978-3107 [email protected]

Julia Zarb [email protected]

Administrative Staff Business Manager (416) 978-8374

Gertzbein, Amber Graduate Assistant (416) 946-3486 [email protected]

James, Jennifer Program Assistant (416) 946-8277 [email protected]

McWhinnie, Zita IT Coordinator (416) 946-5339 [email protected] Parker, Seeta Assistant to the Director (416) 978-2047 [email protected]

Ketelaars, Krysia Database Administrator & Event Coordinator

(416) 978-4326 [email protected]

Fax Number Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation

(416) 978-7350

Institute Health Policy, Management and Evaluation Website www.ihpme.utoronto.ca/






















8. Appendix I ROSI - Student Web Service Graduate students in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation are able to access the student web service to change personal information (addresses and telephone numbers), view their academic record and current courses, and to enroll, request or drop courses.

Student Responsibility While academic advisors, faculty and staff are available to assist and advise, it is ultimately the student's responsibility to keep personal and academic information up to date at all times and to follow all University, SGS, departmental and program regulations, requirements and deadlines. The Student Web Service makes it easier for students to check and correct this information. If questions arise about requirements, policies and procedures, students are responsible for seeking answers for these questions from staff and advisors.

Note: Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and other university offices may send important information to you by email. Please make sure that your email address, your mailing/permanent address and telephone number is up to date at all times. Under University policy, students are required to maintain a university based email account (e.g., UTOR, ECF, CHASS, OISE), record it in ROSI, and regularly check for messages. That account may be forwarded to another personal account but it is the university account to which the university will send official correspondence. New students are advised to validate their UTORID at the University Library early. The UTORID provides access not only to the @utoronto.ca email account but also to Blackboard, the university’s student portal and learning management system. Many courses use the portal to provide online materials, discussion groups, quizzes etc. It is also used by the university and various student groups to make important announcements and administer elections.

Declaration Use of the SWS to enrol in courses means that you agree to abide by all of the academic and non-academic rules and regulations of the university, the School of Graduate Studies and department in which you are registered and assume the obligation to pay academic and incidental fees according to the policies and requirements of the University of Toronto. You normally use the SWS to add or cancel courses. If, for extraordinary reasons, you are unable to use the SWS contact your department office as soon as possible.

Users of the Student Web Service are expected to be responsible when using the SWS and should not attempt to flood the system with requests, or to automate the process of course enrolment. Such activity may clog the system so that other students may be denied access or experience degraded performance. Any student(s) attempting such activity may be denied access to the SWS until after the relevant registration period.

Personal Identification Number Each time a student accesses ROSI via the web a personal identification is required in addition to a student number. The first time the system is accessed this will be derived from the student's date of birth (format YYMMDD). However, at that point the student will be required to change the PIN number. Subsequent access to the system will require this new number which should be known only to the student. The PIN number and student number together constitute an "electronic signature". Never give your PIN or student number to someone else.



Forgotten PIN numbers can be reset by the graduate office. To avoid having to contact the office in person or having to wait for office hours, students can enter answers to a set of questions on the SWS. When they first access the ROSI, the SWS will prompt students to choose three questions from a list. If at a later date the student forgets the PIN number, the PIN number can be reset online if two of the three questions are answered correctly.

Services Available Change PIN View/Change address, telephone number, email View final grades View academic history Add/request/drop courses View current courses or course request and waitlist status View student account information Order transcripts Order graduation tickets View transaction log

Updating Personal Information Students may view or update their address, telephone number or email address through the Student Web Service. When entering new information, the "add" option should be used. "Change" should only be used to correct information in an otherwise correct record (e.g. typos).

Requesting Courses All MHI required courses are preloaded into students’ schedules on ROSI, with the exception of one elective course in the fourth term.

All requests for courses outside the Institute must be approved by the graduate co-ordinator. See course request form (http://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/Assets/SGS+Digital+Assets/current/Student+Forms/Add-Drop+Course.pdf).

The web service requires full information about a course when a request is being made. Please consult the attached lists from your Institute. Be sure to enter:

Course number: e.g. MHI 1001 H

Section Code: usually F, S or Y. This indicates whether the course is offered in the fall session (F), the winter session or second term (S) or over both (Y).

Teaching Method: all graduate courses have a teaching method of LEC (lecture).

Teaching Section: the number of the class. Most graduate courses only have one teaching session (0101). Although there may be only one teaching section the information must still be entered on the system.

NB. Some courses may require instructor's approval in addition to that given by the co-ordinator / academic advisor.



Courses from outside the Institute Not all graduate departments allow students to enroll in courses via the web. Before attempting to add a course outside your department check with your department and the host department about procedures.

Checking course status Students are responsible for knowing the status of their course requests at all times. This information can be obtained via the web service. The following are the possible statuses:

REQ: Course requested. Must be resolved/approved by the last date to add a course.

INT: Course requested pending instructor approval in addition to co-ordinator's/advisor's approval.

APP: Request approved. Student is enrolled in course. REF: Request denied. Student is not enrolled and may not make another

request for this course via the web during this session. CAN: Course cancelled (student withdrew from course before deadline) WAIT: No room in the meeting section. Student has been placed on a waiting list

based on category and will be enrolled automatically if space comes available.

DWAIT: Student has cancelled place on the waiting list or been removed.

Cancelling or withdrawing from courses Students have a technical capability to cancel or withdraw from individual courses using the web service up to certain deadline dates. However, please note: Dropping of courses is not permitted in the MHI program except for severe and extenuating circumstances. Before doing this students MUST consult with the MHI Program Director and receive permission to do so to avoid loss of status in the MHI program.

Deadline dates:

See Section 6.1 above. Final Results Final grades in courses can be accessed through “Transcripts and Academic History”. Grades can be viewed after the following dates. If a grade is not available, contact your instructor or the graduate unit offering the course.

2013 Fall Session January 15, 2014

2014 Winter Session May 14, 2014



System Availability The student web service is normally available at the following times:

Monday 6:00 to 23:45 Tuesday to Thursday 0:15 to 23:45 Friday 0:15 to 18:00 Saturday midnight to midnight Sunday midnight to 23:45

Occasionally hours must be reduced for system maintenance. Please check the Student Web Service for details.

URL The Student Web Service (a.k.a. ROSI's Page) can be accessed at www.rosi.utoronto.ca. Instructions are located there. Please remember to log out after each use.

http://www.rosi.utoronto.ca/

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