Expand upon your post-secondary studies to discover your pathway to an exciting career in health information. Learn and apply industry standards for the collection, use, and analysis of personal health data.  Study information management’s principles and practices for privacy, confidentiality and security, and how these are applicable to health information systems. Learn  how electronic information management is revolutionizing health care within service sectors: primary care, administration and research.

As the Canadian health care delivery system evolves, so does data collection, health information usage and analysis, privacy and security, and the integration of information systems.

That’s why McMaster University Continuing Education is thrilled to announce that its Health Information Management Plus Diploma program is now accredited by the Canadian College of Health Information Management (CCHIM). This accreditation means that the program has met the strict regulation requirements upheld by both the certifying body and the Canadian Health Information Management Association (CHIMA), the national association representing leadership and excellence in health information management across the country.

This post-graduate, part-time, instructor-led program is an online learning experience designed by leading experts in the country in consultation with professional associations. Graduates of the program are eligible to become Certified Health Information Management (CHIM) professionals, who are in high demand in a variety of health care settings across the continuum of care and within provincial and federal governments. These professionals will use electronic information management to revolutionize health care.

The CHIM credential is recognized across Canada, and our members play key roles in the Canadian health system, including privacy and information analytics, to decision support and the coding and classification of records.

McMaster University Continuing Education provides its learners with academic programs that are well-designed, accessible,  and relevant to the professional field.  Programs within health information are designed for learners with an undergraduate degree or college diploma seeking to build upon their prior knowledge and skills.

To qualify for the Health Information Management Plus Diploma (45 units), students must complete all ​required courses for the program. In agreement with CHALearning, McMaster University Continuing Education students will register and complete 3 coding courses offered by CHALearning. Upon successful completion of the 3 courses, students receive 6 units of study to be applied to the HIM Plus Diploma. All program courses are offered online. This diploma program is accredited by the Canadian College of Health Information Management (2018-2020).

Applications for the winter term cohort open on January 2, 2019. To find out more about admission requirements, please visit mcmastercce.ca/health-information-management or contact us at mcmastercce.ca/contact-us.

 

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The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, OUSA, is concerned that McMaster's administration didn't seek student input before suspending MAPS from collecting fees last week.

A motion to stop the part-time students association from collecting students' money was announced last Monday on the Daily News. The motion was brought to the Board of Governors meeting last Thursday and passed without student input. The administration reasoned that the new MAPS board had not met expectations of transparency and accountability, and therefore should not collect any fees from students this fall.

Three days after the Board of Governor's decision, OUSA blogged about their concern over the way the situation was handled, with the understanding that the new MAPS board was working to address the administration's concerns.

OUSA, which represents 8 student organizations including the MSU, says McMaster's decision to impose the suspension goes against the autonomy of a student organization:

"Most concerning is the fact that the decision [...] was motioned and passed by members of the University Administration, rather than by the actual student membership of MAPS. This sets a dangerous precedent in which an institution has chosen to withhold fees independently of student input or support."

Ken Seville, a part-time student at McMaster and a Hamilton resident, commented on the post and expressed disappointment in the way the decision unfolded.

"I was shocked at how quickly this motion was brought forth and passed without any discussion or even questions from the BOG," he wrote. "I also find it disingenuous that the admin. claims to be protecting pt students but made no effort to consult them on the decision."

"The university has an email address for every MAPS member. Even something as simple as poll daddy would have sufficed," he wrote in an e-mail. He says he doesn't know what other part-timers think of the suspension.

"That's the problem about being a pt student, you are disconnected from campus life but decisions are made on your behalf without any consultation. For my part, I don't mind paying MAPS fees because I have confidence in the new BOD and them making the organization accountable," said Seville.

MAPS President Andrew Smith said the new board "has always been in agreement with strengthened accountability and transparency measures. He continued, "The MAPS board will not, however, agree to unrelated issues being attached to the resumption of fee collection."

A McMaster representative could not be reached for comment before this article was published.

MSU President David Campbell said he agrees with OUSA that an effort should have been made to reach out to students before the decision, even if that meant a non-binding question to part-time students over e-mail.

"We understand the reasoning behind it but [getting student input] would have set a different tone," he said.

However, Campbell also expressed some skepticism that the University would have received a large or unfavourable response to suspending MAPS, given the spending scandal that has severely impacted student confidence in the organization.

"Getting input would have been more of a symbolic decision," said Campbell, who noted that context plays a role.

The MAPS annual meeting in February was poorly attended by members. Several confusions came up because by-laws were not present at the meeting. In 2012, MAPS was denied a fee increase and audited by the University. In the weeks and months following, the organization's executive director was fired and its former board of directors replaced.

This article was last updated June 17 at 17:15 ET.

(Infographic updated to account for new information)

This time next year, McMaster students could be off on their first-ever fall break, but so far, there have been few signs this will happen in 2013.

With sessional dates to be presented to the Undergraduate Council in December, MSU President Siobhan Stewart has limited time to determine whether her proposed fall break will get the nod from the student body. She will then need to convince University administrators to make a change to next year’s calendar.

Stewart won the MSU presidential campaign in April with ‘fall break 2013’ as a major platform point.

The promised break could manifest itself in several ways, from an extra day off before Thanksgiving weekend to a full reading week.

At this point, Stewart says she’s not sure what she could accomplish in time for 2013.

“I can’t say whether or not a full reading week could happen next year. Something can happen. What that something is, I don’t know yet,” said Stewart, who said she would not identify concrete goals before finding out feasible options and polling students.

“My role is to get student feedback and try to get all the factors. In terms of getting that into the calendar, all I can really do is present [what students want]. I don’t have approval power, but my hope is that with substantial student voice behind me, that will add more weight to whatever it is they’re hoping for,” said Stewart.

As of yet, the MSU has not held a public student forum on fall break. Stewart said a survey of student opinion will be released in early November.

The survey will ask students for feedback on what is possible for fall break next year and whether or not they want to move toward a larger-scale initiative like a fall reading week.

Given the tight timeline for administrative approval, a full week off during fall 2013 is unlikely.

Last week, Ryerson University joined several other universities in the GTA by having its inaugural fall reading week, giving students time off from classes between Oct. 8 and Oct. 12.

It was no easy feat, and Melissa Palermo, Vice President (Education) of the Ryerson Students’ Union can attest.

“We started work on getting a fall reading week in the 2010/2011 year,” said Palermo.

“We first wanted to get students’ opinions on whether or not it was something they wanted, and we got a mandate at our semi-annual general meeting in 2010. We did research on what happened at other campuses and wrote a proposal to the University Senate, and that proposal was passed in January of 2011. The whole process took about a year and a half.”

Phil Wood, Associate Vice President (Student Affairs) at McMaster said there are a number of administrative kinks to work out before a fall break of any kind could happen.

“There are several difficulties that must be worked through on our end. These include things like length of a term and exam schedules, which will need to be dealt with before we could consider even a pilot project,” said Wood.

As is the case for Ryerson, some professional programs at McMaster may not be able to reduce the number of weeks in the semester from 13 to 12.

In particular, engineering students need to spend a higher number of hours in class in order for their program to be accredited.

“Whether or not they would be able to take time off would depend on the steps we are able to take to replace these hours. This would not be a simple task,” said Maria White, Assistant Dean of Engineering.

At Ryerson, the faculty of engineering and architectural science was permitted to re-evaluate whether they wanted a reading week due to their accreditation requirements. Ultimately, the faculty decided not to participate.

“Their options were to find more class time or work through the reading week,” said Palermo.

The fall reading week debate has grown in popularity among Ontario universities over the past few years, with mental health concerns and student stress at the core of the discussion.

Debra Earl, McMaster’s Mental Health Team Nurse, wrote a proposal for fall break for submission to Student Affairs in 2009, to which she says she has received no response.

The report compares McMaster to peer institutions in Ontario and the U.S. and finds McMaster more stringent than other institutions in its scheduling accommodations for students.

The study shows the number of teaching days at McMaster was one of the highest in the province in 2009, with only two non-teaching days in the semester.

McMaster’s exam period (14 days) was also longer than nine other Ontario universities’ in 2009. McMaster had only one ‘study day’ before the start of exams.

“There might be a benefit to having exams spread out more, but what some schools do is have a condensed exam schedule and a longer study period beforehand,” said Earl.

At the time of Earl’s study, Laurentian, Trent, Nipissing and York had week-long breaks during the fall semester. Since then, the University of Ottawa and Ryerson University have jumped on board.

The University of Toronto offers a two-day mid-semester break in November, and Queen’s has a three-day study break in December.

At the moment, it is uncertain whether a fall break would be favourable to the majority of McMaster students, and in what capacity they would want it implemented. It also remains to be seen whether there is enough time to make it happen for the next academic year.

The Undergraduate Council will vote on next year’s sessional dates on Dec. 11. The schedule for 2013-2014 must be finalized before the printing of McMaster’s undergraduate calendar in March.