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MSc EHealth - looking for feedback


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Hello, 

I was recently accepted into the Master of Science in EHealth at McMaster University. I can't find much online about the value of the degree and possible career streams, I'm wondering if anyone on this forum has information about this or knows anyone who has completed this degree (or similar). To my knowledge the Master of Health Informatics degree is a close match. 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated - thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't plan on studying medicine or becoming a doctor or anything so undertaking this degree wouldn't be in preparation for that :D

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Graduate degrees are so variable regarding "value". In my experience, over 50% of the value of such a degree depends on the network opportunities that arise.  I do not know anything about the program you refer to, but I would start by trying to contact some alumni, or by trying to get a sense of where those who completed the degree ended up. It would be interesting to see who has enrolled and who is teaching the courses and what their background is. 

Edited by rogerroger
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  • 9 months later...

hey there,

I'm a graduate of Mac's ehealth program and wrote a blog article specifically on the topic you mentioned - feel free to check it out - https://blog.mingli.ca/mcmaster-msc-ehealth-vs-utoronto-mhi/

The main value of either Mac's MSc ehealth or UofT's MHI is the industry experience opportunity - it puts you in the field and lets you set foot in the door for a career in ehealth. This is a really rewarding career if you're passionate about it. I know healthcare is known to be slower to adopt technology than other industries - but recent pandemic has definitely changed that and ehealth jobs are going unfilled right now.

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  • 11 months later...

Hi! I am applying to the eHealth program at Mac. I am a premed student as well. I was wondering in my supplemental questions for the application should I mention that I am an aspiring doctor and want to do this degree so it can aid me with technological skills once I become a doctor? 

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated :)

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4 hours ago, tamsamsom said:

Hi! I am applying to the eHealth program at Mac. I am a premed student as well. I was wondering in my supplemental questions for the application should I mention that I am an aspiring doctor and want to do this degree so it can aid me with technological skills once I become a doctor? 

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated :)

I'd say of course you should mention it - interestingly I had 2 classmates that were already graduates of MD (Ontario medical schools) and were taking the MSc ehealth to boost their credentials before they went into residency (they both went into a Canadian family medicine residency afterwards). I also know someone from our MSc ehealth program that got into UofT MD program after completing the MSc ehealth program at Mac. If your goal is MD program, you should pick thesis-based MSc ehealth and spend your 8-month internship in an academic research setting (bonus if you get to publish a paper) instead of interning at a company (refer to timeline on https://blog.mingli.ca/mcmaster-msc-ehealth-vs-utoronto-mhi/)

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3 hours ago, tamsamsom said:

Hi! I had another question. Does going with the course-based options reduce chances of being accepted into medical school later on? From the descriptions I have read the course-based e-health program also includes a research component. @ehealth adept

In short, the course-based stream is focused on maximizing your ability for employment in the ehealth / health informatics field whereas the thesis stream is focused on academics and research.

While I can't comment on MD admissions success rate, but what I can say is that the person from my cohort that got into UofT MD completed the thesis stream.

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Thank you! This made sense. Should we be using external resources in our statement of interest for the thesis stream? because I have less experience in this field I was wondering if that is allowed. It is about potential problems or areas of research in the field. Any feedback will be appreciated :)

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Yeah for thesis, you need to write an extra blurb on your research interests. The admissions committee knows you might not be doing exactly what you write in that blurb, you certainly don't have to commit to it. Be prepared if the admissions committee might circulate this blurb to faculty - so you can think of the purpose of this blurb as you trying to seek a faculty with the right expertise willing to supervise your research. From experience, your actual thesis research will most likely depend on the expertise of your supervisor.

I don't see an issue with citing external resources - so long as you make sure that they are credible/reputable sources - I have lots of great topics on ehealth in my blog https://blog.mingli.ca/ you can start from there and follow the citations I put in my blog, they are all credible/reputable - you can also cite my blog directly!

Regardless of what you write, you should be prepared to speak on a thing or two about the topic should it come up during the interview.

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