Transitioning to a Career in Health IT

 Looking to transition into a career in health IT and aren’t sure how to do so?

Look no further than the mentorship available through the HIMSS Emerging Professionals community, open to anyone with a current HIMSS membership who is actively engaged in the health IT setting for five or fewer years. During two recent HIMSS Emerging Professionals webinars, attendees learned firsthand how two HIMSS members transitioned into a career in health IT.

On March 11, 2011, Kim Sassaman, Information Security Officer for Presbyterian Healthcare Services, shared with us his responsibiltieis for planning, developing, implementing and improving the PHS enterprise wide security program, based on ISO 27001 for both the health plan and the delivery system. Previously, Sassaman was a Principal Information Security Consultant for Orange Parachute and BT INS where he dealt with issues ranging from forensics to certifying organizations, such as Merrill Corporation, DCM services and the International Monetary fund to ISO 27001. Click here to hear the entire webinar recording.

On April 8, 2011, Pawan Goyal, Chief Medical Officer for HP Enterprise Services U.S. Federal Healthcare, shared with us his responsibilities for establishing the strategic direction in areas of health informatics and enterprise business transformation for the Federal Healthcare portfolio of over 2,500 professionals supporting the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense, Indian Health Service, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

An otolaryngologist by training, Goyal had 14 years of surgical practice in India before moving to the United States in 1998. As a recognized leader and subject matter expert on process re-engineering for healthcare and electronic health records interoperability, Goyal often serves as an author, panelist and public speaker in areas, such as patient medical records and effective EHR institutionalization and use. Click here to hear the entire webinar recording.

Looking to learn more?

Be sure to become actively engaged in the HIMSS Emerging Professionals Community that holds monthly webinars for HIMSS members on the second Friday of the month from       1-2 p.m. ET.

I would also like to hear from others who have been part of the HIMSS Emerging Professional community about their careers in health IT.