Need Help Please - Health Informatics Program at WGU.

Dreamboy

Hi all.. this is my first post in this forum.

I am planning to apply at WGU for the Bachelors in Health Informatics program, but before I do it I thought I should get some feedback from you guys. Has anyone enrolled or currenly enrolling in this program? If yes, how is it? Would you recommend it? My background is I have a bachelors in Medical Technology program and 2 years of work experience in healthcare field (Not IT related). I have recently passed the CAST (Certified Assoicate in Software Testing) examination .. never thought I would pass it as I didn't have any work experience, but I studied 6 months and passed by God's grace . So this is my background as of now.

I would like to know more about the program especially how easy it is going to be for an individual like me without any IT experience. I understand that I have to work hard and I am willing to do that. But I'm scared since it is completely online because I have never taken any courses online before.. do they provide help if I get stuck with something?
or do they just let it figure it out by myself?
What happens if you don't pass a class (hopefully not)? Can you repeat it?

How reasonable is the tuition? Are the classes flexible? Do you get a lot of assisgnments? homework, essays and all?

Forgive me for asking too many questions. I'm not a computer genius but I gained more confidence after passing the CAST examination.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Segovia

First of all welcome and congrats on your recent exam!

At first I wasn't going to answer because I am in a different program (IT Security) but it seems like you are asking some basic questions so I'll give my two cents.

I looked at the program information and these are the courses you would be taking: BS Health Informatics Courses

Now from my perspective this degree focuses more on systems and business of IT along with healthcare related courses like microbiology. This is a stark difference from my degree which is mostly heavy duty IT and 6 IT certs. In this case I think you could get through these courses no problem.

There is a lot of support in place for students and I think the biggest factor for you is that you have never taken an online class. Basically how it works is they provide you with different resources and you teach yourself. You have a mentor you can call who will help you figure out what to do. You also have separate course mentors for each course that help students learn in that specific course. You definitely should not feel intimidated by the fact that it is online. Now I actually don't know about if you can't pass a course, but I think it's pretty rare and I'm sure there are options.

Tuition is about 6k per year which is pretty decent. There is no homework. You study and take an exam to pass the class. Some classes have an exam along with a performance exam which can be like a research paper or something similar to that.

Heres's another page that may answer some more of your questions: WGU Online University Admissions | Academic Experience | Western Governors University

Hope this helped.

Dreamboy

Segovia wrote: »

First of all welcome and congrats on your recent exam!

At first I wasn't going to answer because I am in a different program (IT Security) but it seems like you are asking some basic questions so I'll give my two cents.

I looked at the program information and these are the courses you would be taking: BS Health Informatics Courses

Now from my perspective this degree focuses more on systems and business of IT along with healthcare related courses like microbiology. This is a stark difference from my degree which is mostly heavy duty IT and 6 IT certs. In this case I think you could get through these courses no problem.

There is a lot of support in place for students and I think the biggest factor for you is that you have never taken an online class. Basically how it works is they provide you with different resources and you teach yourself. You have a mentor you can call who will help you figure out what to do. You also have separate course mentors for each course that help students learn in that specific course. You definitely should not feel intimidated by the fact that it is online. Now I actually don't know about if you can't pass a course, but I think it's pretty rare and I'm sure there are options.

Tuition is about 6k per year which is pretty decent. There is no homework. You study and take an exam to pass the class. Some classes have an exam along with a performance exam which can be like a research paper or something similar to that.

Heres's another page that may answer some more of your questions: WGU Online University Admissions | Academic Experience | Western Governors University

Hope this helped.

Thank you so much for your reply.

I will be okay with the healthcare courses. Hopefully they would waive those courses since I have taken some of them already.

Do they provide notes to study? like perhaps powerpoints? or recommend the books to buy and so on? because I'm a type of person who relies heavily on notes.

So basically there will be no deadline to take the exam (?).. you can schedule and take it once you are prepared? correct me if I'm wrong plz.

Do you have to take required number of classes if you are a full time student? or its totally up to you?

Thanks again and looking forward to your reply.