1.0 Introduction

Barry was employed as a Multimedia designer to assist with the design, interaction and usability of learning material for a new post-graduate certificate in health informatics at the Jordanstown campus. Some of his responsibilities included creating interactive learning materials for the course as well as managing the design and development of one of the modules "Analysing and presenting data and information" through the use of an online application called WebCT used throughout the University.

Health Informatics (HI) lies at the intersection of informatics and the health and social care disciplines. It equips healthcare professionals with better information handling and interpretation skills. It may be defined as:

 "The knowledge, skills and tools which enable information to be collected, managed, used and shared to support the delivery of healthcare and to promote

  health"

1.1 History and Development

The course committee believed that there was a need for enhanced education opportunities to address the academic aspirations of Health Informatics professionals in Northern Ireland, which refines the knowledge from the Computing Science domain to specific health domain issues. So the course team proposed a postgraduate certificate in Health Informatics to address this need. By setting up this course it extends learning initiatives such as ECDL "European computer driving license" Health modules and the Microsoft NHS skills academy, which focus on digital literacy in healthcare, by providing relevant specialist computing knowledge.

The postgraduate certificate is the first dedicated Health Informatics course in Northern Ireland. It has been planned in close collaboration with the Health and Social Care Services (HSC) ICT Training Group, which has responsibility for ICT training in the health service in Northern Ireland. The course receives support from Campus One, the University of Ulster's virtual campus, which currently provides distance learning programmes for more than 10,000 students, including over 1,500 fully online postgraduate level students.

The course committee consists off:

• Professor Richard Millar - Dean, Faculty of Computing and Engineering
• Professor Gerry McAllister - Head of School, Computing and Mathematics
• Mr Pat Sweeney - Associate Head of School, Computing and Mathematics
• Mr William Blackburn - Lecturer
• Dr Dewar Finlay - Lecturer
• Professor Roy Harper - Visiting Professor
• Dr Gaye Lightbody - Lecturer
• Dr Paul McCullagh - Senior Lecturer
• Mr Maurice Mulvenna - Senior Lecturer
• Dr Chris Nugent - Reader
• Dr Giuseppe Trombino - Research Associate
• Mr Jonathan Wallace - Senior Lecturer
• Mr Ian Young - Lecturer
• Dr Huiru Zheng - Lecturer

The course consists of 7 modules, three core modules and 4 optional modules. The three core modules are:

Electronic Healthcare - This module is taken by Dr Paul McCullagh the module will enable students to appraise their role as an integral part of structure intended to meet the health & social care needs of patients and to understand the contribution of data and information towards meeting these requirements. Students will develop a knowledge and understanding of ways in which IM&T can support a model of best practice in the delivery of patient care. They will understand the development of the eHealth paradigm and explore examples relevant to their workplace.

Information management in health and social care - The module co-ordinator for this module is Mr Jonathan Wallace and teaching staff responsible for module delivery is Mr Maurice Mulvenna. Information and its management can support the delivery of health and social care. This module describes the fundamental components of information management in the context of health and social care and illustrates how information management supports key functions in social and health care organisations. The role of he knowledge base is introduced. Usability of information is explored. Appropriate management techniques are discussed.

Emerging healthcare technologies - This module is run by Dr Dewar Finlay and Dr Chris Nugent. This module provides an understanding of the use of technology in healthcare. Particular emphasis is placed on new and emerging applications of technology in this domain. This shall be realised through analysis of technologies which are currently pervasive in healthcare provision and through the investigation of new and emerging technologies. This module shall provide a framework to facilitate the development and understanding of technology and service provision for healthcare using a range of technologies new and old from both theoretical and practical perspectives.