There are no deadlines for the conversion programme. You can mention your preferred start date of the Master in your application. 

Students are advised to apply at least eight months in advance. For international students that need a visa to study in the Netherlands, please add at least another 5 months.

Admission requirements

Students may join the Master’s programme either directly from BSc Medical Informatics or indirectly from a range of other first-degree courses. Indirect entrants can come from a variety of backgrounds, including

• Medicine
• Health Sciences
• Biomedical Sciences
• Computer Science
• and relevant vocational degree courses.

Academic Bachelor's degrees other than Medical Informatics

Holders of a Bachelor’s degree in another subject than Medical Informatics from a university in the Netherlands or abroad must apply in advance to the Examination Board at the School of Medical Informatics, providing full details of their qualification and its curriculum. 

There are three possibilities:

• unconditional admission; 
• conditional admission, subject to successful completion of a conversion programme of a maximum of 26 ECTS at € 40 per credit;
• rejection of the application.

English proficiency test

All students with qualifications from outside the Netherlands (EEA and non-EEA) who are non-native English speakers are required to have passed an English proficiency test. The following three tests are accepted as proof of proficiency in English: 

• TOEFL, minimum score: 100, sub scores Reading 24, Listening 22, Speaking 25 and Writing 24.
• Cambridge C1 advanced, minimum score 190
• IELTS, minimum score: 7, sub scores 6,5. 

Students who have completed a degree in Australia, Canada (except Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, or the United States may be granted an exemption from this requirement. 

Dutch vocational degree (hbo)

Holders of a Bachelor’s-equivalent hbo degree in a relevant subject, such as Computer Science, can also apply in advance with full details of their qualification and the curriculum. In most cases, these students are admitted to the MSc subject to successful completion of a conversion programme.

Application is not the same as enrolment, and it does not oblige you to actually enrol in the course. In consultation with the master’s co-ordinator, the Examination Board first decides whether your existing qualifications entitle you to unconditional admission to the programme and, if not, what additional tuition you require and how this can be provided.

Any necessary conversion programme is designed on an individual basis and is worth a maximum of 26 European study credits (EC). Once you meet all the prerequisites for the course, you will receive an admission certificate. This entitles you to enrol in the Master’s programme in accordance with the standard UvA procedures.

The steps of the admission procedure to the Master’s programme are:

Step 1. 

The candidate sends an application form to the Examination Board of the School of Medical Informatics.

Send your application and all the requested documentation in an envelope marked “Application for MSc Medical Informatics” to the address mentioned on the application form.
Also send a digital copy of your application papers via email to: onderwijs-mi@amc.uva.nl. 

The application forms can be downloaded here:

All prospective lateral entrants (that is, those that did not follow the BSc Medical Informatics programme or Bachelor Bèta Gamma, major Medical Informatics at the AMC-UvA) must apply in advance to the ExaminationBoard, enclosing the following documents for consideration:

• A letter of application, including a description of the student’s motivation to take the Medical Informatics Master programme.
• Reference letter(s) (at least one).
• Authenticated copies of relevant qualifications (Bachelors’ and/or Masters’ degree certificates).
• A list of courses or modules taken, graduate points and marks obtained.
• A curriculum vitae describing the candidate’s educational and employment history, as well as any additional courses taken.

Step 2.

The application is evaluated to determine whether it meets the requirements of our programme in terms of evidence of relevant background education, academic skills, and motivation. An in-person or telephone/internet interview will be scheduled to supplement the information in the application.

Step 3.

Based on the information provided by the candidate (certificates, list of courses or modules and marks obtained) it is determined whether the prior education of the
candidate is comparable to or exceeds the requirements of a Bachelor degree of our university. Any specific deficiencies in the Medical Informatics knowledge of the candidate are identified, and the relevant pre-master courses selected to compensate for these deficiencies.

Step 4.

The Examination Board sends a letter to the candidate indicating whether the candidate can be admitted to the MSc programme. If admitted, the letter also indicates the topics the candidate should study in order to be accepted for the MSc programme. The candidate is then registered in the conversion programme. The candidate has a maximum of two years to pass all required exams.

Step 5.

Candidates that successfully pass all required exams receive a letter indicating they can enter the MSc programme. The letter is valid for two years.

Step 6.

Computer exams Candidates who are admitted that do not have enough knowledge of the programming language Python must take a programming exam, which will be in Amsterdam prior to the MSc program and after topic 1 and 3 have been successfully done. In order to prepare, an online course is available (link on Canvas). This exam takes place four times a year, twice before the start of each semester. Usually they are scheduled in June/August and December/January. For students who would require a visa to enter the Netherlands, an alternative exam can be arranged.

For students who have successfully completed the conversion programme: 

Within 48 hours after submitting your enrolment application in Studielink, you will receive an email with your UvAnetID and an email with instructions for the next step of the application process. Follow the instructions in the email to activate your UvAnetID as you will need it to complete your UvA application.

Step by step guide to StudielinkGo to Studielink

Pre-master

If you have not been able to complete your bachelor's program on time due to the corona crisis you will be granted access to the pre-master Medical Informatics when you fulfill the regular requirements (mentioned on 2. Check entry requirements) and the following special conditions.

In certain exceptional cases, the UvA is making it possible to start a Pre-Master's programme when you have not yet fully completed your Bachelor's programme. Normally, you would not be able to begin a Pre-Master until you had successfully completed your previous study programme.

If you have incurred a limited study delay, you will be allowed to begin your Pre-Master's programme – but only if your study delay involves courses from your Bachelor's that was offered in the academic year 2021-2022 - and your delay is related to the coronavirus pandemic.

You must provide proof of the institution where you followed the bachelor's program confirming that the delay has occurred due to the corona crisis and in the academic year 2021-2022.

Your study delay may not be greater than 15 ECTS. In cases where a student's delay is greater than 15 ECTS, the programme is no longer considered ‘feasible’. You will be able to make up the ‘missing’ courses and will have the entire 2022-2023 academic year to do so.

This arrangement is in effect for students who wish to begin a Pre-Master's programme at the UvA in September 2022 and are enrolled (in the 2021-2022 academic year) in a Bachelor's at the UvA, a Bachelor's at another Dutch university or a Bachelor's at a university within the EER.

Please make sure that we receive your request for study delay, somewhere between the 1st of July and the 31st of August. You can apply your request via https://uva-ac.topdesk.net/tas/public/xfg/enguvaverzoektottoelating.

For students with admission based on the pre-master

If you have not been able to complete your pre-master program on time due to the corona crisis you will be granted access to the master Medical Informatics when you fulfill the regular requirements (mentioned on 2. Check entry requirements) and the following special conditions.

In certain exceptional cases, the UvA is making it possible to start a Master's programme when you have not yet fully completed your pre-master’s programme. Normally, you would not be able to begin a Master until you had successfully completed your previous study programme. 

If you have incurred a limited study delay, you will be allowed to begin your Master's programme – but only if your study delay involves courses from your pre-master that was offered in the academic year 2021-2022 and your delay is related to the coronavirus pandemic.

You must provide proof confirming that the delay has occurred due to the corona crisis and in the academic year 2021-2022. 

Your study delay may not be greater than 5 ECTS. In cases where a student's delay is greater than 5 ECTS, the programme is no longer considered ‘feasible’. You will be able to make up the ‘missing’ courses and will have the entire 2022-2023 academic year to do so.

Students who aim to start in February 2023 cannot use this regulation; their pre-master must be completed before starting.

Please make sure that we receive your request for study delay, somewhere between the 1st of July and the 31st of August. You can apply your request via https://uva-ac.topdesk.net/tas/public/xfg/enguvaverzoektottoelating.

A student ID card is a personal card which serves as proof of identity for examinations or borrowing library books. After admission, you will receive instructions on how to request your student ID card. 

In order to complete your enrolment for a degree programme at the UvA you will need to pay the tuition fee.

Find out more about how to pay the tuition