Job Profiles of Biomedical Informatics Graduates. Results of a Graduate Survey.

BACKGROUND

Biomedical informatics programs exist in many countries. Some analyses of the skills needed and of recommendations for curricular content for such programs have been published. However, not much is known of the job profiles and job careers of their graduates.

OBJECTIVES

To analyse the job profiles and job careers of 175 graduates of the biomedical informatics bachelor and master program of the Tyrolean university UMIT.

METHODS

Survey of all biomedical informatics students who graduated from UMIT between 2001 and 2013.

RESULTS

Information is available for 170 graduates. Eight percent of graduates are male. Of all bachelor graduates, 86% started a master program. Of all master graduates, 36% started a PhD. The job profiles are quite diverse: at the time of the survey, 35% of all master graduates worked in the health IT industry, 24% at research institutions, 9% in hospitals, 9% as medical doctors, 17% as informaticians outside the health care sector, and 6% in other areas. Overall, 68% of the graduates are working as biomedical informaticians. The results of the survey indicate a good job situation for the graduates.

CONCLUSIONS

The job opportunities for biomedical informaticians who graduated with a bachelor or master degree from UMIT seem to be quite good. The majority of graduates are working as biomedical informaticians. A larger number of comparable surveys of graduates from other biomedical informatics programs would help to enhance our knowledge about careers in biomedical informatics.