Lead Change, Transform Health
Accelerate your impact with our programs centered on data-driven, multidisciplinary approaches to learning health systems.
The U-M Medical School Department of Learning Health Systems Health Infrastructures and Learning Systems (HILS) Program empowers health professionals and scholars to innovate, lead and transform health systems.
Taking a scientific, data-driven and multidisciplinary approach to learning health systems, we aim to make continuous improvement at scale routine.
Our work builds on multiple fields and disciplines, including:
- Data science and informatics.
- Implementation science.
- Quality improvement and patient safety.
- Statistics.
- Policy and ethics.
- Behavioral and social sciences.
The HILS program is housed in the Department of Learning Health Sciences, the nation’s first basic science department focused on continuous systems-level learning.
Many prospective HILS students have looked at other programs — public health, healthcare improvement, quality improvement, implementation science, medical informatics, or business or healthcare administration.
While there is overlap, the HILS program takes a unique approach. Drawing on many disciplines, HILS students learn methodologies to
- Design, implement and evaluate continuous improvement within and across systems.
- Build ongoing improvement into health infrastructures.
- Improve the health of individuals and populations and enable sustainable change.
HILS graduates are equipped to develop innovative solutions for complex healthcare challenges. Our alumni lead initiatives designed to improve outcomes at all levels – not only clinical outcomes but processes of care, health justice, and health equity outcomes as well.
Many of our students are early- and mid-career professionals working in clinical settings, government and public healthcare agencies, and Academia.
Learners come from diverse educational and professional backgrounds, including from
- Nursing and medicine.
- Public health and health administration.
- Information technology, computing, and data science.
- Engineering.
- Behavioral and social sciences.
- Organizational and policy sciences.
One thing our students share is a passion for tackling complex problems and developing creative solutions to improve health systems.
Our graduate programs develop health professionals and scholars that innovate, lead and transform health systems. Explore our three degree programs: MS in Health Infrastructures & Learning Systems, MS in Health Infrastructures & Learning Systems–Online and PhD in Health Infrastructures & Learning Systems.
- MS in Health Infrastructures & Learning Systems, a 27-credit residential program designed to be completed in three semesters over 12 months, including an applied learning systems capstone project.
- MS in Health Infrastructures & Learning Systems – Online, a 27-credit hybrid online program designed to be completed in three semesters over 12 months, including an applied learning systems capstone project. Note that the HILS-Online degree program currently is only available to admitted United States citizens and permanent residents (green card holders). Learn more about the HILS–Online program
Both the residential and online HILS MS program can be taken on a part-time basis.
Course content and course requirements are the same whether you enroll in the residential or the hybrid online MS program.
PhD in Health Infrastructures & Learning Systems, a 36-credit program of coursework and dissertation research and writing.
If you want to contribute to sustainable data-driven change and improvement in healthcare, we hope you’ll apply.
Our students bring Health Infrastructures & Learning Systems to life with their expertise, range of educational and professional backgrounds and focus and passion to learn and innovate.
We understand pursuing graduate education takes a significant investment. Several types of assistance may be available depending on your situation and degree program.
We encourage you to explore these as well as other potential options through your employer or other University and external sources.
For further information, contact financial aid.
Rackham provides resources to learn about possible funding opportunities for master’s and doctoral students. The types of funding vary widely. Rackham support for eligible graduate students is awarded through Rackham administered fellowships and grant competitions.
All students admitted to the HILS doctoral program are considered for financial support at the time their applications are accepted. At this time, no departmental awards are available at the Master's level.
Packages for doctoral students may include fellowships, research or teaching assistantships, or traineeships.
If you have not already done so, you may apply for federal financial aid online by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). For more information, please visit the U-M Office of Financial Aid. There are additional resources available for U.S. military veterans and active-duty personnel.
The Council of Graduate Schools provides an online financial literacy platform for graduate and professional students, GradSense.
Although the HILS PhD/MS programs are part of the School of Medicine, Rackham tuition and fees apply. You can find current tuition and fee information through the Office of the Registrar. When selecting your school/college, be sure to choose Rackham (not Medical School).
Current tuition — set by the University of Michigan Regents each June — is as follows:
| School of Medicine: Rackham Academic Year 2024-25 graduate tuition | ||
|---|---|---|
| Student Fees | Michigan Resident | Non-Michigan Resident |
| Full-time (9+ credits) per full term | $14,277 | $28,722 |
| Part-time first hour | $1,945 | $3,550 |
| Part-time additional hours | $1,542 | $3,147 |
| Mandatory fees per term | $166.19 | $166.19 |
Applicants should also keep in mind potential additional expenses, such as books, laptops, travel, etc.
Applicants can find information, including FAQs, about residency and in-state vs. out-of-state tuition through the Office of the Registrar.
Since the HILS MS and PhD programs launched in 2016, graduates have been applying the science of learning health systems to address challenges and improve health systems and care at the individual, organizational, regional and national level.
Our faculty – innovators, leaders and scholars in learning health systems — have close affiliations with other top schools across the University of Michigan, including Information, Public Health, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing and others.
Professor of Learning Health Sciences, Medical School
Professor of Health Behavior and Health Equity, School of Public Health
Associate Professor of Information, School of Information
Our research programs offer a variety of opportunities to generate new knowledge and enhance learning at all levels of scale in order to improve health.
We find a new reason to love Ann Arbor nearly every day — year-round outdoor activities, cultural experiences, a growing food scene and a welcoming, family-friendly atmosphere are just a few that come to mind.
