Health Terminology Standards Certificate Program
Certificate Info Session January & September Entry
To learn more about the Certificate in Health Terminology Standards Program, we invite you to watch the video recording of our Information Session, click here. *NEW* January 2024 entry, with HINF 536 Controlled Terminology Standards, as first course.
About the program
If you work in the healthcare industry and are involved with or have an interest in health terminologies and standards, interoperable electronic health record, and clinical coding and classification, then this certificate is for you. This program is intended to meet national and international needs for best practices in controlled terminologies used in the healthcare industry.
We need home-grown terminology experts to work on connecting the Canadian health care system. This program will help meet that need.
—Kelly Davison MN, MSc, RN, CPMHN(C), CTSS, Vancouver
The certificate program in Health Terminology Standards is 1-year, part-time program with four courses done through weekly online evening classes and a virtual workshop.
Once you have completed this program, you will:
- be eligible for the Canadian College of Health Information Management Certified Terminology Standards Specialist (CTSS) credential.
- acquire knowledge and skills in terminology and interoperability standards used in health care
- acquire knowledge and skills in the adoption and management of CT standards in health care organizations, spanning the entire CT lifecycle
- apply knowledge and skills in the role, adoption and implementation of interoperability standards in organizations/jurisdictions, with an emphasis on the appropriate use of CTs in the standards and solution development lifecycles
- conduct a terminology-related field project under the supervision of a faculty member in order to demonstrate your competencies in the use of CTs in health care organizations
There are two streams in the Health Terminology Standards Certificate program:
Admission requirements differ depending on the stream. But otherwise the streams are the same in terms of courses, time commitment, and tuition.
If you have additional questions about the streams, please contact htscoord@uvic.ca.
What are the differences between the Graduate and Professional streams?
Graduate Certificate in Health Terminology Standards
The Graduate Certificate in Health Terminology Standards is an academic credit program for those who have completed a 4-year bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) from an institution recognized by UVic or if you have a Health Information Management (HIM) diploma and 15+ years of relevant work experience. Courses taken for academic credit may be used in future graduate programs of study.
Application deadline:
November 1 for January entry
June 1 for September entry
For application information, click here.
For tuition fees, click here.
Professional Certificate in Health Terminology Standards
The Professional Certificate in Health Terminology Standards is a non-academic-credit program for working professionals who have a Health Information Management (HIM) diploma and at least two years of relevant work experience. The Certificate is offered in partnership with the University of Victoria’s Division of Continuing Studies.
Application deadline:
November 1 for January entry
June 1 for September entry
For application and tuition information, click here.