Distance Education Programs in Biomedical Informatics including Certificate Program

In addition to the distance education MS degree, BMI offers a non-degree option of obtaining a certificate (three classes) or for taking individual classes. Students receive course content and interact via the Stanford Center for Professional Development (SCPD). All of the coursework is on-line; no time at Stanford is required. It is highly recommended that you start by reviewing the information on the SCPD website, especially their handbook for non-degree option students. Information about any course can be found in Stanford's Explore Courses.

Certificate Program Eligibility and Prerequisites

The following are required for entry into the Certificate Program. Note that these prerequisite courses do not count towards the Certificate, even if taken at Stanford.

  1. A bachelor's degree with a 3.0 (B) grade point average or better.
  2. One year of computer programming/software engineering coursework or equivalent experience. We recommend that students take the equivalent of Stanford's CS 106A and CS 106B prior to entering the Certificate Program.
  3. One year of college biology.
  4. One year of calculus is required for some classes.
  5. Classwork in probability and statistics is a prerequisite for some classes.
  6. Some BIOMEDIN courses may have additional prerequisites. These are listed in Stanford's catalog, Explore Courses.

You need to achieve at least a B (3.0) in each Certificate class to continue in the program.

Student with good reasons may request waiver of these requirements through BMI program staff.

Certificate in Biomedical Informatics: Data, Modeling and Analysis

Three courses are required for the Biomedical Informatics Certificate. These courses are chosen from the following BMI core courses.

  1. BIOMEDIN 210: Modeling Biomedical Systems: Ontology, Terminology, Problem Solving (Win quarter)
  2. BIOMEDIN 214: Representations and Algorithms for Computational Molecular Biology (Aut quarter)
  3. BIOMEDIN 215: Data Driven Medicine (Aut quarter)
  4. BIOMEDIN 217: Translational Bioinformatics (Win quarter)
  5. BIOMEDIN 260: Computational Methods for Biomedical Image Analysis (Spr quarter)

Individual Courses (Non-degree Option)

You can enroll in individual courses without pursuing a degree or certificate. You can use up to 18 Stanford units towards a degree (including those from a certificate) if you are later accepted into one of our degree programs.

Application Instructions

You should apply directly through SCPD, not BMI or Biosciences.

Frequently Asked Questions

See here.