ASHDS

Students & Early Career

Career path explorer

Salary ranges come from the ASHDS 2025 State of Health Data Science survey of 3,400 practitioners.

Health Data Analyst

$62k – $85k

Typical degree: BS in statistics, data science, public health, or a related field

SQLExcel & TableauBasic statisticsEHR data literacy

A day in the life: Pulls readmission numbers for the quality committee, fixes a broken dashboard, and meets a nurse manager to understand why a metric looks wrong.

Clinical Data Manager

$75k – $105k

Typical degree: BS/MS in life sciences, nursing, or informatics

Data standards (CDISC)Study databasesAttention to detailRegulatory basics

A day in the life: Reviews data queries from a clinical trial, updates a case report form, and prepares a clean dataset for the statisticians.

Machine Learning Engineer

$120k – $165k

Typical degree: BS/MS in computer science, engineering, or data science

PythonModel deploymentCloud platformsMonitoring & MLOps

A day in the life: Ships a retrained risk model, investigates a drift alert, and pairs with a data scientist on turning a notebook into production code.

Biomedical Informatics Scientist

$105k – $145k

Typical degree: MS/PhD in biomedical informatics or a quantitative field

Research designClinical NLPGrant writingAdvanced statistics

A day in the life: Designs a study using de-identified notes, mentors a graduate student, and drafts a JHDS manuscript.

Internship guide

When to do what

  1. Sophomore fallExplore roles, join a chapter, take intro stats and programming
  2. Sophomore springBuild a portfolio project with public health data (CDC, MIMIC demo)
  3. Junior fallApply to summer internships — most deadlines fall Sept–Nov
  4. Junior summerIntern; ask for a resume review and mock interview through ASHDS
  5. Senior yearApply for full-time roles, sit the CAHDS exam, present a poster
Browse internshipsBook a resume review