Western Governors University - Health Informatics BS

Discussion in 'IT and Computer-Related Degrees' started by Mollydog, Apr 26, 2015.

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  1. Mollydog

    Mollydog New Member

    Hi all,

    I've concluded that a future in health informatics is the best option for me to move into after earning a BSN and MSN (nursing). I no longer desire to work directly with patients and know that the computer science field is the place to be.

    So I applied to the BS Health Informatics program knowing I could easily finish it within the year because I can zip through the health field courses (hopefully).

    My question: has anyone completed this program or any other at WGU? Just curious to hear your thoughts. I know it's very affordable, and that's appealing. What can I expect from the instructors/mentors? How does the curriculum progress with competency in place of credits? Did you apply for any scholarships and did you win any?

    Thanks so much!
     
  2. rebel100

    rebel100 New Member

    I finished the WGU MBA in February 2014.

    Competency is different in the sense that you only need to demonstrate your knowledge in order to progress to the next topic. In other words you pass a test or satisfactorily complete a paper and you move on. They do not spend a great deal of time teaching you, but rather expect you to manage your own learning from the material provided. This is fine for the self motivated adult learner...probably less ideal if the subject matter is truly new to you.

    Course Mentors will help...but you had to seek that help. They don't spoon feed, your given a metric and expected to meet it. I actually found better support with WGU's sanctioned student facebook pages than with most of the presented course material.

    It can be very affordable...if you finish quickly. For the MBA I brought years of life experience and a business related undergrad, most of it was relatively easy for me and that meant I moved quickly through the material (at the time it was 100% written and I do well there, now it's in part test based and that would certainly have slowed me down). If you are unable to move fast, WGU can actually become quite expensive. Know too that since they use this "competency" model, it may be difficult to transfer the credits out if you find WGU isn't right for you.

    Have you considered the Masters instead? I don't know if it would provide the same training or not, but I suspect it might have some benefits over a second bachelors...but I don't know, not really my area.
     
  3. Mollydog

    Mollydog New Member

    Good to know. Thank you for that insight! I know that my experience in the healthcare field will help me a great deal with demonstrating competency to move out of all the courses related to that area of study. I'll keep in mind that Facebook page for when it comes time to the computer science portions.

    I, too, would have preferred a more written area of examination. However, I'll do whatever it takes to pass the tests. Perhaps the students on the Facebook page can comment on strategies for success on testing.

    As for looking at a Masters, they don't offer that in health informatics. When I looked at the gradate level computer science degrees, they appeared to require some practical experience for acceptance. Is this not the case? Because I would prefer to go into security or database administration.
     

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