Opportunities for Emerging Professionals in Health IT

On Nov. 18, the NY State HIMSS Chapter hosted its first day-long Student Informatics Conference, held at the Academy of Medicine in Manhattan . I had the privilege of delivering the opening keynote to about 200 participants from the provider, academic, vendor and healthcare communities.

Sessions included separate panels of former students, employers and vendors plus a panel presentation on “Getting Ready for that Opportunity in HIT.” In addition, students competed for the grand prize of an iPad in the Student Poster Session competition.

Organized by the HIMSS Planning Committee co-chairs Kenneth Ong MD, MPH, and Sal Volpe, MD, the event serves as a model for others in the industry. And with the focus on 51,000 additional jobs entering the healthcare IT sector as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, more opportunities like this are needed to facilitate activity among those currently working in non-IT positions in healthcare and those wanting to engage in a healthcare IT profession.

Further, those entering the HIT workforce and who are HIMSS members have the opportunity to engage with other HIMSS Emerging Professionals, who are defined as having experience of five years or less in a healthcare IT setting. Webinars on a variety of topics are held on the second Friday of the month.

The next webinar will be on Dec. 10 and is entitled, “Professional Certification: The CPHIMS and Beyond.”

Speakers are:

Susan J. Vaughn, RN, BC, MBA, PMP, CPHIMS, FHIMSS                                             Director of Applied Clinical Informatics                                                                                Bloomington Hospital                                                                                                            Bloomington, Ind.

Elyse Nielsen, PMP, CPHIMS                                                                                                 Senior Project Manager                                                                                                                      St. Vincent’s HealthCare                                                                                                       Jacksonville, Fla.

They will share their reflections on the value of professional certification. This event is complementary event for HIMSS members. Click here to register.

Do you have other examples of other collaborative events to share?