HIMSS Blog

Following is a Q/A with Dr. James Brady, our closing keynote speaker for the HIMSS Virtual Career Fair on May 16.  Helen Figge, Senior Director, Career Services.

by James Brady, PhD, CISM, PMP, CPHIMS

Q. Please tell me about your work in the career services area – a little about your current position, career?

A. I first became involved in career services in 2008.  When I joined the local HIMSS Southern California chapter, I started working with a new chapter initiative designed to reach out and “bridge the gap” between the academic community and the healthcare industry, primarily by offering internships, mentorships and scholarships.  We established an annual conference with low student registration rates and an opportunity for a free HIMSS student membership at no cost. 

Our 2010 conference attracted over 220 students from 35 universities and community colleges, with the total registration exceeding 500 people.  We established a program to reach out to local Southern California universities and community colleges by giving short HIMSS presentations to the healthcare-related graduate student organizations on each campus. 

Over 600 students attended 12 of these sessions in 2011.  Our full-time chapter student membership rose from 1 to 75 in the first year, and by year two, over 250 students joined the chapter.  The chapter awarded $8,000 in scholarships in 2011.

Our internship program identified 175+ potential internships at 85 of our member organizations.   Many students received internships in that first year.  We found that by simply contacting healthcare organizations and inquiring about internships, many internship positions were either created or identified. 

One of the things we noticed when developing the internship program was the interest in internships wasn’t only from students.  In addition to those currently unemployed, we found that many people enrolled in one of the health IT certificate programs or healthcare-related graduate school programs, as well as working individuals in tradition IT roles, were looking to transition to health IT.  

The emerging professional profile, defined by HIMSS as one having five years or less of healthcare experienced, was clearly something that we saw as a powerful force evolving in world of healthcare.

As a senior IT professional working at Cedars-Sinai Health System from 2002 to 2010, most of my day-to-day responsibilities began to shift from traditional IT to more involvement with health IT. I pursued and obtained a PhD in information systems with a focus on healthcare, largely to do what I could on my part to better understand healthcare, and position myself for future growth. 

On the job and with professional association involvement, I actively looked for opportunities for exposure to clinical initiatives.  After working closely with an EPIC deployment for five years, I accepted a new position in a large Hawaii health system, which was just beginning its journey to implement a new Siemens EMR.  Currently, I serve as Hawaii Health Systems Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Technology Officer. 

In 2010, I had the good fortune to be able to join the HIMSS Career Services Task Force, and am working with the task force to develop more opportunities for researchers and graduate students.

Q. What are the benefits of a virtual career fair for anyone seeking work in health IT?

A. The virtual career fair is a fantastic opportunity to gain relevant knowledge from many of the leading experts in healthcare-related career development.  The knowledge that you will need to identify what type of career may be best for you, and how to advance in your career, are two of the many benefits that the virtual career fair provides. Best of all it’s free.

Q. What are three basic tips you would give to anyone who might attend the Virtual Career Fair – what should they be ready to do once entering this event?

A. You can find Jim’s three tips on the HIMSS website.

Q. Other comments you would like to make.

A. I’d like to thank HIMSS, the members of the Career Services Task Force and leadership for all the hard work and dedication they have shown to help the hundreds and thousands of us move forward in our career journey.

James Brady PhD, CISM, PMP, CPHIMS is CISO/Director, Technical Services, Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, Honolulu, Hawaii.  He is the closing keynote speaker at the HIMSS Virtual Career Fair on May 16.