Graduate School Bulletin

 General Requirements for the Biomedical Informatics Graduate Program

Registration: Students must register for at least one graduate credit in the semester in which the diploma is awarded.

Language Requirement: There is no foreign language requirement.

Grade Point Average: To be certified for graduation a cumulative graduate grade point average of 3.0 (out of 4.0) or better is required.

General Requirements for the Ph.D. in Biomedical Informatics

The Ph.D. program has been designed to provide students the flexibility to tailor their studies toward their individual research interests while maintaining a common foundational training. Each student’s program of study will be defined by the student, the student’s advisor and the program director, while satisfying certain mandatory requirements of the program. The program of study has been designed to provide students with the fundamental knowledge of the domain and its tools, to provide depth in the key areas of, and tools used, in BMI, and to give them the flexibility to choose courses that meet their individual needs.  A minimum of 24 credits beyond the M.S. degree is required for the Ph.D. degree. Students also select a track to focus on:  Imaging Informatics, Clinical Informatics or Translational Bioinformatics.

Required Courses:

1. 24 approved graduate course credits beyond the M.S. degree requirement.

a. A minimum of 9 graduate credits, excluding BMI 590, BMI 591, BMI 592, BMI 595, BMI 596, BMI 598, BMI 599, BMI 690, BMI 691, BMI 692, BMI 695, BMI 696, BMI 699, BMI 700, BMI 701, and BMI 800, must be taken in the Biomedical Informatics Program (includes all BMI courses and all BMI-Approved Elective courses from other departments). 

b. Either BMI 502 or BMI 503, but not both, can be applied toward the course requirements.

c. No more than a total of 4 credits of BMI 692 may be applied toward the Ph.D. degree credit requirements, although all on-campus Ph.D. students who have advanced to candidacy must register for and attend BMI 692 each semester (exemption from BMI 692 is subject to prior approval of the student’s advisor and the graduate program director.). 

2. All full-time Ph.D. graduate students are required to register for BMI 592 each semester and obtain a satisfactory grade before
    they advance to candidacy.

3. All full-time Ph.D. graduate students are required to register each semester for BMI 692 each semester and obtain a satisfactory   
    grade after they advance to candidacy.

4. All courses taken outside the department for application to the graduate degree requirements are subject to prior approval of the
   student's advisor and the graduate program director.

5. The graduate program may impose additional course requirements.

6. Students must complete all the required courses from at least one of the Biomedical Informatics program tracks (see below).

Transfer Credits:

All requests for transfer of credits require the prior approval of the graduate program director and all requests for transfer of credits beyond 12 graduate credits must also be approved by a majority vote of the primary Biomedical Informatics faculty.  For a student who transferred from another comparable national BMI program and has already completed all course requirements and passed the preliminary written exam, the student can petition the Graduate School to be placed into advanced status (passing preliminary examination equivalent) with prior approval by a majority vote of the primary Biomedical Informatics faculty.

Preliminary Examination:

Students will be required to pass a written preliminary examination. This examination is designed to broaden the multidisciplinary nature of the candidate student base. Biomedical Informatics attracts people working in many domains, often acquiring skills and interests that are not captured by the more conventional curricular track offered in those domains. Naturally, this is also an opportunity to verify the accuracy of the candidate’s claims to quantitative skills as a route to a multidisciplinary curriculum. The examination will be offered at least once every year, usually in April. The preliminary examination will be developed by the student’s advisor in consultation with the student’s examination committee, and must then be approved by the graduate program director prior to being administered. The examination committee will consist of three Biomedical Informatics faculty members. Students will be encouraged to take the preliminary examination the first time it is offered after they begin academic residency. Each student can take the written preliminary examination two times before being disqualified as candidates to this Ph.D. program.

Qualifying Examination: 

This examination is designed to test the student’s ability to utilize his or her background to carry out research in a chosen field of study, and to make clear written and oral presentations of research. As part of the qualifying examination, the student is required to submit a written dissertation proposal (15 page limit) and present it in a public oral examination conducted by the dissertation examining committee. The written dissertation proposal must be distributed to the committee members at least two weeks before the oral examination. The oral examination probes the doctoral student’s ability and examines the progress, direction and methodology of the dissertation research. The student will be examined on the dissertation topic and its objective, the problem formulation, research approach, and knowledge in related areas. A majority of the dissertation examining committee must approve the student’s performance.

Teaching:

Ph.D. students are required to take 3 credits of BMI 698 Practicum in Teaching II or obtain approval of equivalent teaching experience from the Graduate Program Director as part of the degree requirement. BMI 698 is taken under a faculty advisor who is responsible for providing feedback and making a formal evaluation of the student's work. The form of this practicum may include making class presentations, teaching in recitation classes, or preparation and supervision of laboratory classes. All Teaching Assistants are required to take BMI 697 Practicum in Teaching I prior to taking BMI 698. BMI 697 will provide students a background in learning theory, course design, learning styles, content delivery formats, teaching technology, advising, rubrics and assessment.

Advancement to Candidacy:

After passing the preliminary examination, a student will be advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree when he/she has completed all formal coursework, passed the qualifying examination and satisfied all other Ph.D. requirements except the dissertation. These requirements must be completed within one calendar year after passing the written qualifying examination. Advancement to candidacy must be at least one year before the beginning of the semester in which a student plans to defend his/her dissertation.

Dissertation:

The student chooses a dissertation topic in consultation with his/her doctoral dissertation advisor as soon as possible. Dissertation research is an apprenticeship for the candidate, who, under the supervision of the dissertation advisor, independently carries out original work of significance. The dissertation examining committee should be established after the student passes the qualifying examination. The committee must include at least three members from the Department of Biomedical Informatics primary or secondary faculty, including the dissertation advisor, and at least one “outside” member from another program or from outside the University.  This “outside” member may not be a member of the Biomedical Informatics program graduate faculty.  The committee must be approved by the graduate program director upon recommendation by the dissertation advisor. The official recommendation for the appointment of the dissertation examining committee is made to the Dean of the Graduate School.

Dissertation Defense:

Once the dissertation is complete, approval of the dissertation requires a formal oral defense. The formal defense is open to the public. A candidate must fill out the Doctoral Degree Defense Form (available on the Graduate School Web page) with dissertation abstract as well as other relevant details, and submit the Form to the graduate program director at least three weeks in advance of the proposed event. The Form is forwarded by the graduate program director to the dean of the Graduate School. Copies of the dissertation are to be distributed to the committee members at least two weeks before the dissertation defense; one copy is to be kept in the program office for examination by the faculty. The final approval of the dissertation must be by a majority vote of the dissertation examining committee.

Annual Review of Progress:

The student’s advisor must submit a written report to the graduate program director on the student’s progress once per year documenting student progress and accomplishments (e.g., published papers or proceedings, presentations at conferences, fellowships, grants, awards or other honors).

Time Limit/Residency Requirement:

The time limit for a doctoral degree is seven years for a student who has a previous graduate degree or 24 credits of graduate study in such a degree program. For all other students, the time limit for a doctoral degree is seven years after completion of 24 graduate level credits at Stony Brook University. 

Ph.D. Course Table with Track options :

 

	"req" = required course for track
	"x" = elective course subject applies to track	TRACK
Course #	Title	Imaging Informatics (II)	Clinical Informatics (CI)	Translational Bio-informatics (TBI)
BMI 501	Intro. To Biomedical Informatics	req	req	req
BMI 502	Life Sciences for Biomedical Informatics	req or 503	req or 503	req or 503
BMI 503	Computer Science for Biomedical Informatics	req or 502	req or 502	req or 502
BMI 511	Translational Bioinformatics			req
BMI 512	Clinical Informatics		req
BMI 513	Imaging Informatics	req
BMI 514	Imaging Informatics Analysis	req
BMI 517	Current Research in Signaling Pathways, Biochemistry, and Tissue Morphology of Disease	x	x	x
BMI 520	Data Analytics and Software Stacks	req	x	req
BMI 530	Software Development in Biomedical Informatics	req	x	req
BMI 540	Statistical Methods in Biomedical Informatics	req	req	req
BMI 550	Clinical Informatics Practice Patterns		req
BMI 551	Case Studies in Clinical Informatics		req
BMI 552	Quality Improvement Methods for Clinical Informatics		x
BMI 560	Personalized Medicine			x
BMI 590	Independent Study in Biomedical Informatics	x	x	x
BMI 591	Independent Reading in Biomedical Informatics	x	x	x
BMI 592	Maters/Pre-Candidate Seminar (FT students must register each semester prior to candidacy)	req	req	req
BMI 595	Special Topics in Biomedical Informatics	x	x	x
BMI 596	Special Problems in Biomedical Informatics	x	x	x
BMI 598	M.S. Capstone Project in Biomedical Informatics
BMI 599	M.S. Research and Thesis in Biomedical Informatics
BMI 620	Advanced Topics in Clinical Informatics		x
BMI 622	Advanced Topics in Translational Bioinformatics			x
BMI 625	Advanced Topics in Imaging Informatics	x
BMI 690	Independent Study in Biomedical Informatics	x	x	x
BMI 691	Independent Reading in Biomedical Informatics	x	x	x
BMI 692	BMI Candidate Seminar (FT students must register each semester after candidacy)	req	req	req
BMI 695	Special Topics in Biomedical Informatics	x	x	x
BMI 696	Special Problems in Biomedical Informatics	x	x	x
BMI 697	Teaching Practicum I	req	req	req
BMI 698	Teaching Practicum II	req	req	req
BMI 699	Dissertation Research-On Campus (up to 12 credits)	req or 700 or 701	req or 700 or 701	req or 700 or 701
BMI 700	Dissertation Research-Off campus, Domestic	req or 699 or 701	req or 699 or 701	req or 699 or 701
BMI 701	Dissertation Research-Off campus, International	req or 699 or 700	req or 699 or 700	req or 699 or 700
BMI 800	Full-Time Summer Research	x	x	x

General Requirements for the M.S. in Biomedical Informatics

The M.S. program has been designed to provide students with the core foundations of Biomedical Informatics and the flexibility to define a specialization that best meets their career objectives. Students may select the M.S. with Thesis option or the M.S. with Capstone Project option. Students also select a track to focus on: Imaging Informatics, Clinical Informatics or Translational Bioinformatics.

Required Courses:

1. All M.S. students are required to take the initial BMI sequence:

a. BMI 501 Introduction to Biomedical Informatics

b. BMI 502 Life Sciences for Biomedical Informatics

   OR   BMI 503 Computer Science for Biomedical Informatics

c. Based on Student’s selected track (BMI 501 must be taken before or at the same time as BMI 511, BMI 512 or BMI 513):

BMI 511 Translational Bioinformatics

OR BMI 512 Clinical Informatics

OR BMI 513 Imaging Informatics

2. All M.S. Students are required to take BMI 540 Statistical Methods in Biomedical Informatics.

3. All full-time M.S. graduate students are required to register each semester for BMI 592 Biomedical Informatics               Masters/Pre-Candidate Seminar, and obtain a satisfactory grade.

4. Students must complete all the required courses (marked “req” on the M.S. Course Table with Track options, below)         from at least one of the Biomedical Informatics program Tracks.

5. A minimum of 18 graduate credits must be taken in the Biomedical Informatics Program (includes all BMI courses and     all BMI-Approved Elective courses from other departments). Of these, 15 credits must be in courses other than BMI         590, BMI 591, BMI 592, BMI 595, BMI 596, BMI 690, BMI 691, BMI 695, and BMI 696 (the independent study,                   independent reading, seminar, special topics and special problems courses).

6. All courses taken outside the Program for application to the graduate degree requirements are subject to prior                 approval of the student’s advisor and the BMI Graduate Program Director.

7. Up to 15 credits from the Advanced Graduate Certificate in Biomedical Informatics may be applied to the M.S. degree       in Biomedical Informatics provided they meet the course requirements for the M.S. degree.

Transfer Credits:

A maximum of 12 graduate credits may be transferred from other programs toward the M.S. degree. These may include up to 6 credits from other institutions. The maximum also includes any credits received from Biomedical Informatics courses while having non-degree status at Stony Brook as an SPD or GSP student. Credits used to obtain any prior degrees are not eligible for transfer. All requests for transfer of credits require the prior approval of the BMI Graduate Program Director.

Time Limit:

Full-time students must complete all M.S. degree requirements within three years. Part-time students must complete all M.S. degree requirements within five years. For any term in the M.S. program, 12 credits are needed for students to be considered full-time.

 

Requirements for the MS in Biomedical Informatics - With Thesis

 The M.S. Thesis option is intended for students who wish to perform Biomedical Informatics research. A written thesis is submitted and is defended in an oral examination.

A student choosing the M.S. Thesis option must define a suitable research question and select a M.S. Thesis research advisor, who must approve the M.S. Thesis research.

Upon completion, the M.S. Thesis must be defended in an oral examination before a faculty committee of at least three members (of which at least two members must be Biomedical Informatics faculty; one member must be the student’s M.S. Thesis research advisor). This faculty committee must be approved by the BMI Graduate Program Director. The written M.S. Thesis must be distributed to the faculty committee members at least two weeks before the oral examination.

A student choosing the M.S. Thesis option may not switch to the Capstone Project option without permission of the graduate program committee. 

A student who has at any time been appointed as a teaching, graduate, or research assistant must choose the M.S. Thesis option unless otherwise approved by the graduate program committee.

Course Requirements for M.S. with Thesis:

21 approved graduate course credits and an accepted Thesis, which is registered as up to 12 credits of BMI 599 M.S. Research and Thesis in Biomedical Informatics .

a. No more than a total of 12 credits of BMI 599 may be applied toward the M.S. degree credit requirements.

b. No more than a total of 6 credits of BMI 596 Special Problems in Biomedical Informatics-Masters and BMI 696 Special Problems in Biomedical Informatics-Doctoral  may be applied toward the course requirements.

c. No credits of BMI 598 M.S. Capstone Project in Biomedical Informatics may be applied toward the course requirements for students who select the M.S. with Thesis.

d. Either BMI 502 Life Sciences for Biomedical Informatics or BMI 503 Computer Science for Biomedical Informatics , but not both, can be applied toward the course requirements.

 

Requirements for the MS in Biomedical Informatics - With Capstone Project

The Capstone Project option is intended for students who wish to take additional elective courses, plus complete a practicum rotation, instead of the highly-focused M.S. research that is part of the M.S. with Thesis option.

A student choosing the Capstone Project option must select a project advisor. Prior to starting a Capstone rotation, a student is required to submit a project proposal with well-defined deliverables to both his/her academic advisor and project advisor. The student’s project advisor is required to submit a mid-term evaluation to the student’s academic advisor.

The student is required to complete a final report and also present his/her work at a department seminar. Upon completion, the project must be submitted for approval to a faculty committee of at least two members (the academic advisor and the project advisor; at least one committee member must be Biomedical Informatics faculty; committees with more than two members are permitted).

A student who has selected the Capstone Project option may not have been (nor be concurrently) appointed as a teaching, graduate, or research assistant unless otherwise approved by the graduate program committee.

Course Requirements for M.S. with Capstone Project:

30 approved graduate credits, including 6 credits of BMI 598 M.S. Capstone Project in Biomedical Informatics .

a. No more than a total of 6 credits of BMI 598 may be applied toward the M.S. degree credit requirements.

b. No more than a total of 6 credits of BMI 596 Special Problems in Biomedical Informatics-Masters and BMI 696 Special Problems in Biomedical Informatics-Doctoral  may be applied toward the course requirements.

c. No credits of BMI 599 M.S. Research and Thesis in Biomedical Informatics may be applied toward the course requirements for students who select the M.S. with Capstone Project.

d. Either BMI 502 Life Sciences for Biomedical Informatics or BMI 503 Computer Science for Biomedical Informatics , but not both, can be applied toward the course requirements.

M.S. Course Table with Track options:

 

 

Requirements for the AGC in Biomedical Informatics 

The Advanced Graduate Certificate program has been designed to provide students with the basic grounding in Biomedical Informatics and the flexibility to design a curriculum that best augments their current training. A minimum of 15 credits is required for the Advanced Graduate Certificate.

Required Courses:

1. 15 approved graduate credits including BMI 501, BMI 502 and/or BMI 503. As well as one from the following list               corresponding to the track specialization: BMI 511 Translational Bioinformatics, BMI 512 Clinical Informatics or BMI         513 Imaging Informatics.

2. All courses taken outside the Program for application to the graduate degree requirements are subject to prior                 approval of the student’s advisor and the BMI Graduate Program Director.

3. Students must complete all the required courses from at least one of the Biomedical Informatics program tracks (see       AGC Course Table, below).

Transfer Credits:
A maximum of 6 graduate credits may be transferred from other programs toward the Advanced Graduate Certificate. These may include up to 3 credits from other institutions. The maximum also includes any credits received from taking Biomedical Informatics courses while having non-degree status at Stony Brook as an SPD or GSP student. Credits used to obtain any prior degrees are not eligible for transfer. All requests for transfer of credits require the prior approval of the BMI Graduate Program Director.

Time Limit:
Full-time students must complete all Advanced Graduate Certificate requirements within two years. Part-time students must complete all Advanced Graduate Certificate requirements within four years.

Advanced Graduate Certificate Course Table with track requirements: