Biomedical Informatics as a career

Biomedical informatics encompasses computational and analytical methods that advance biomedical research, as well as the implementation and management of information technology used to improve the practice of healthcare. Biomedical informatics spans and draws upon a number of related disciplines, including bioinformatics, genomics, systems biology, biostatistics, big data, and healthcare analytics. Demand for researcher and clinical professionals with knowledge of biomedical informatics keeps rising.

What can I do with a degree in Biomedical Informatics (BMI)?

Biomedical Informatics is a multidisciplinary field that has a wide variety of career paths. The type of Biomedical Informatics career that an individual may seek is dependent on their personal interests and area of study. These professionals usually work in hospitals, community health centers, medical practitioner clinics, medical research labs, state or federal government health care agencies, health information technology system vendors, and health insurance companies, consulting services or academic universities.

BMI trained professionals may become:

• Chief medical information officers
• Chief medical officers
• Computational biologists
• Nursing informatics specialists
• IT trainers
• Directors of medical informatics
• Programmers
• Research scientists
• Clinical systems analysts
• Software engineer
• Epidemiologists
• Professors
• Template writers
• Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) consultants

Job Outlook

Biomedical Informatics is a rapidly developing field with a promising job outlook. With advances in technology and the medical field, the need for biomedical information is increasing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the demand for biomedical informatics specialists will raise by about 14% by the year 2020. Those who pursue a job in the Biomedical Informatics field are likely to experience a great amount of job stability. This is because they cannot be replaced easily since the field requires such high technical skills.

Biomedical Informatics Salary

The range of salaries you can command with a biomedical informatics degree varies as widely as the jobs you might get.

Median Salaries (2016)

• IT Trainers: $60,374
• Project Managers: $72,175
• Chief Nursing Officer: $124,616
• Chief Medical Officers: $276,748
• Research scientists: $80,103
• Epidemiologists: $74,120
• Software Developer: $106,050
• Post-secondary Teacher: $86,200

Helpful Links

Anil Goud Jegga, DVM, MRes., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Cincinnati/Cincinnati Children's. He created an extensive job watch page that provides information about available Biomedical Informatics jobs and fellowships.