Bowie State Offers USM’s First Public Health Informatics Graduate Certificate

Bowie State University is offering the first and only Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Public Health Informatics within the University System of Maryland (USM), a distinction approved by the Maryland Higher Education Commission in 2023.

The certificate was developed collaboratively by Bowie State's Department of Health Sciences and Department of Management Information Systems. The program was supported in part by the ASTP/ONC Public Health Informatics & Technology Workforce Development Program grant from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

The fully online program is designed to provide flexibility for working professionals. Students participate in weekly synchronous sessions that emphasize instruction, discussion and engagement with faculty and peers, along with asynchronous coursework completed throughout the week. The curriculum culminates in a capstone course in which students apply their knowledge and technical skills to a real-world public health project.

The certificate prepares Maryland Department of Health employees and other public health professionals to strengthen their expertise in both foundational and emerging technologies that support modern public health practice. Areas of focus include cloud computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence and generative AI, data security and privacy, data management and processing, and project management in public health and healthcare.