Through a combination of classroom instruction and extensive professional
practice experience, our accredited curriculum prepares students
for immediate employment or further study.
Entry-level health informatics and information management (HIIM) courses
introduce students to basic aspects of the profession and expose
them to the wide variety of careers in the HIIM profession. 200-level
courses introduce individual aspects of HIIM with the intent of building
a solid foundation for the student in areas that closely interact.
300-level courses offer an in-depth view of subjects utilized in
managerial positions as well as more specific technical positions.
Students in 400-level courses focus on applying the knowledge gained
in the first three years and building their knowledge level to demonstrate
value in the workforce as an HIIM professional.
While there are no formal areas of emphasis within the major, students
can use assignments and/or projects in several of the courses as
well as the advanced professional practice to focus on an area or
two of particular interest.
Program Requirements
Students completing the Bachelor of Science (BS) in health informatics
and information management must complete the General Education Foundations
(GEF), prerequisite, and major requirements as outlined in the
West Virginia University Academic Catalog. Each student will
have a personalized plan of study located in
DegreeWorks, including any previously-completed college coursework
that is approved as transfer credit.
To be eligible for graduation, students must earn a grade of C- or
better in all required graded courses and must complete a minimum
of 120 hours.
Hyflex Teaching Model
The Health Informatics and Information Management (HIIM) program now
offers all courses in the Hyflex model. Hyflex is a student-directed,
multi-option approach to learning. Each student can decide how to
participate in class for each class or activity, and can select the
option that works best for them every day.
All classes are offered face-to-face and online during the class time
and are also recorded for viewing at a later time. Want to attend
in person today? Do it. Not feeling well? Attend online. Unexpected
shift at work? Attend later by viewing the recording at your own
time. What works for each student today may not work tomorrow and
Hyflex allows students to select how they attend each day.
Professional Practice Experience
Typically, students are required to complete 400 hours of professional
practice experience (PPE) to fulfill program requirements and be
eligible to graduate. However, non-traditional students holding a
significant level of work experience and/or certification relevant
to HIIM may be eligible to create a professional portfolio to reduce
the total amount of PPE hours needed. Qualifying experiences will
be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.