The University of Oregon offers a Master's Degree in Biology with a focus in bioinformatics that is designed to meet the needs of industry, the medical field, and academic/government institutions in the new genomic era. Recent technological breakthroughs in DNA sequencing mean that we can decode an organism's genome in a matter of days. One implication of this technology is that it will become commonplace in the future to sequence a human genome for personalized medicine. Even more significantly, this new sequencing technology is fundamentally changing the way biology is being performed, including understanding gene function, studying human disease mechanisms, assembly/characterization of new genomes, and study of microbial ecology. Modern training in the biomedical sciences now requires education in the acquisition, analysis and interpretation of this tidal wave of data. Few programs presently exist to provide this education. To address this deficit and train students in this new field of genomics, we have designed a program that combines graduate level courses with hands on experience in the field.