Certificate in Biostatistics

The Graduate Certificate in Biostatistics in the Department of Statistics at Western Michigan University is designed for graduate students in statistics, for qualifying graduate students that are not statistics majors, as well as working professionals who want to enhance their background in health-related data analysis including physicians, nurses, clinical researchers, health educators and administrators.

Before taking any certificate classes, students must submit an application to the certificate program (e.g. by clicking on the Apply Now link below) and be accepted into the certificate program.  Next, a plan of study needs to be filed with the certificate advisor (see the Program Outline links below).  Strict adherence to these two steps and the rules and regulations governing certificate programs – as specified in the graduate catalog - must be followed.  Specifically, only courses listed in the graduate catalog (see Program Requirements below) will be allowed on the plan of study.

Admission Requirements

Applicants are expected to have completed an introductory course in statistics.

Program Requirements

The program requires 12 credit hours (four courses).

Required courses

• STAT 6040: Fundamentals of Epidemiology and Clinical Trials (three hours)

Choose three from the following electives

• STAT 5450: Introduction to Bayesian Data Analysis
• STAT 5870: Big Data Analysis Using Python
• STAT 6030: Fundamentals of Biostatistics (three hours)
• STAT 6350: Spatial Statistics (three hours)
• STAT 6620: Applied Linear Models (three hours)
• STAT 6640: Applied Mixed Models (three hours)
• STAT 6680: Categorical Data Analysis (three hours)
• STAT 6800: SAS Programming Credits (three hours)
• STAT 6810: Survival Data Analysis (three hours)

For graduate students at WMU, one approved quantitative research course from their own department can be substituted for one of the electives. This course would count, as appropriate, for their graduate degree.

Application

The online application is used to apply for all graduate programs.

Program Outline:

Once you have been admitted to the certificate program, you will need to create a program outline with the certificate advisor.