From clinical data management to clinical data science: Time for a new educational model

The purpose of this article is to propose and provide a blueprint for a graduate-level curriculum in clinical data science, devoted to the measurement, acquisition, care, treatment, and inferencing of clinical research data. The curriculum presented here contains a series of five required core courses, five required research courses, and a list of potential electives. The coursework draws from but does not duplicate content from the foundational areas of biostatistics, clinical medicine, biomedical informatics, and regulatory affairs, and may be reproduced by any institution interested in and capable of offering such a program. This new curriculum in "clinical" data science will prepare students for work in academic, industry, and government research settings as well as offer a unifying knowledge base for the profession.