Bioinformatics or Health Informatics: Which Career Path is Right for You?

Data plays a significant role in the health care system and life sciences. In health care, data enables providers to make more informed decisions about a patient’s health, leading to more accurate diagnoses, effective treatments, improved care, and better overall health outcomes. In biological sciences, data analytics can help drive innovation, optimize existing processes, and accelerate the path to discoveries in areas like cancer biology and molecular biology.

As technology becomes more intertwined with health care and the biological sciences, there is a growing need for more professionals equipped with the skills and knowledge to address public health challenges and advance research.

If you are interested in data, health, and technology, two career paths to explore are health informatics and bioinformatics. At first glance, these two fields may seem similar, but they serve different purposes. Choosing between the two can ultimately shape your education, skills, and career direction.

Keep reading to learn the differences between health informatics and bioinformatics, including educational pathways, skills gained, potential career paths, and more.

Health informatics, also known as medical informatics or biomedical informatics, is a field that combines health care, information science, and data analytics to enhance the delivery of health care and improve patient outcomes. Professionals in health informatics use several technologies in their day-to-day responsibilities to gather pertinent information.

Some of the common technologies used in health informatics include:

If you’re interested in pursuing a degree in health informatics, these are the types of degrees relevant in this field:

These programs cover clinical informatics, health information technology, and health care data analytics.

There are several health informatics certifications you can add to your resume, including:

Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field that encompasses computer science, mathematics, physics, and biology to analyze complex biological data, particularly in genetics, genomics, proteomics, and molecular biology. It involves collecting, storing, analyzing, and interpreting biological data and information, particularly within large and complex datasets. Bioinformatics plays a crucial role in precision medicine, drug discovery, and disease research. There are several areas of bioinformatics, including clinical research informatics, translational bioinformatics, and public health informatics.

In contrast to health informatics, professionals in bioinformatics analyze DNA sequences, protein structures, and other molecular data to better understand biological processes and diseases. 

There are a range of degrees available to study the field of bioinformatics, including:

A degree in bioinformatics can open doors to a wide range of career opportunities across various industries. A few notable careers in bioinformatics include:

Professionals in bioinformatics can work in several settings, such as:

Although both health informatics and bioinformatics put a large focus on data, their goals, tools, and career paths are different. It’s important to understand the differences so you can take the right path toward your future career. Take a look at the comparison table below to see the key differences between these two fields and explore where your interests and strengths may best align.

Health informatics focuses more on improving the systems and delivery of health care, while bioinformatics leans more toward scientific discovery. Ultimately, your decision will lie in whether you want to address technological challenges in health care or explore biological research.

Depending on your background, academic goals, and career interests, you can pursue either field at the associate’s, bachelor's, master’s, or doctoral level. However, if you’re seeking those mid-level, high-paying careers, you may want to go for graduate-level education to develop the skills and knowledge to become a strong candidate for these roles.

Health informatics degree programs focus on how data analytics can help resolve health care problems. Courses cover topics like database management, information technology, and systems analysis. If you’re seeking graduate-level education, two notable degrees in health informatics include the master of health Informatics at the University of Michigan and the master’s in health informatics at the University of South Florida.

Bioinformatics leans more into computer science, biology, and statistics. Prospective students can expect to explore courses in genetics, bioinformatics, data engineering, and more. In contrast to health informatics, students in bioinformatics programs can expect to explore topics leaning more toward science and programming languages.

After looking at programs, you next want to consider whether you want to pursue in-person or online learning. In-person programs may provide more networking opportunities, access to labs, internships, and more personal relationships with teaching faculty or researchers. This can be beneficial if you seek a more immersive learning experience, especially in research-intensive fields like bioinformatics.

Online programs, on the other hand, provide flexibility for working professionals or people switching careers, often with asynchronous coursework, lectures, and virtual labs. Many schools now offer fully online health informatics and bioinformatics programs, particularly at the master’s level.

Health informatics and bioinformatics both offer promising careers with strong projected growth. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that the employment of health information technologists and medical registrars is projected to increase 16% from 2023 to 2033, which is much faster than average.¹

Here’s a look at some more of the most common careers in health informatics.

BLS also reports that computer and information research scientists have a projected job growth of 26% from 2023 to 2033, which is also much higher than the national average for all occupations. ⁵

Below are some common occupations in bioinformatics.

While both fields can lead to different careers, health informatics and bioinformatics have many shared skills, such as:

If you’re interested in health informatics, here are some skills that can help you succeed in this growing field.

If bioinformatics aligns more with your interests and career goals, here are the skills you’ll want to develop to be proficient in this field.

In most instances, you’ll build many of these skills while completing your degree. However, to make yourself a well-rounded professional, consider some of the previously mentioned certifications for both fields. 

Even after you’ve graduated, you can pursue continuing education, such as online courses, workshops, or conferences, to stay current on the latest technology and industry trends.

If you aren’t sure if health informatics or bioinformatics is right for you, ask yourself the following questions to get some clarity.

Keep these questions in mind as you research programs to ensure you find one that aligns with your interests and future career goals.

If you’re switching careers, a good starting point is to identify what transferable skills you already possess. Have you worked with EHRs before? Are you familiar with machine learning tools? Consider your expertise and see if it aligns more closely with health informatics or bioinformatics.