Yet Another Piece...

Well the fall semester has drawn to a close and my head has finally stopped spinning from the overabundance of information I crammed into it for the past 48 hours. 

With that being said, it’s time to reflect on one of the steps I took towards accomplishing my healthcare IT goal. 

During the semester, I attempted to increase my knowledge of the healthcare field by attending Maryland’s Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) Panel Discussion. It turned out to be nothing but professionals talking about the importance of networking and resumes….what I hear everywhere I go anymore—I get it, let’s move on to something that will actually help me after graduation!

Anyway, I ended up missing my Applied Project Management class (EBTM443) to attend this event and when I followed up with my professor to get materials I missed, I got another piece to this perplexing puzzle.

When explaining to my professor, Chaodong Han, why I had attended the healthcare panel and my IT goal, he told me about his son’s teammate’s father who works in a healthcare IT industry.

After speaking some more, Professor Han got me in contact with Vishal Agrawal, President of Healthcare Solutions at Harris Corporation, and shortly after we had a phone conversation.

It was interesting to hear how Med QB and Harris Corporation are working on similar things. Agrawal told me how Harris Corporation is working on being a portal technology company to facilitate medical record sharing with portal integration platforms.

Agrawal also told me about Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) a “global, cause-based, not-for-profit organization focused on better health through information technology.”

BINGO! Could there be an organization that aligns with my goal any better? I think not.

I’m signing up for a student membership ASAP and I would LOVE to attend their annual conference in February, I just have to find the means to go.

Anyway… our conversation eventually led to seeing where I could fit into Harris’ internship program. Agrawal had warned me that most of their internships focus on engineering and technical sides but he was going to forward my resume to the HR department to see if any kind of program could be made on the business side for me.

We will see where this leads to, but for now here are 3 things I gathered from this experience:

1. Go to any event you have an opportunity of going to—even if it isn’t 100% what you’re looking to pursue.
2. Going to see your professor outside of class can have SEVERAL benefits. You never know whom they can connect you to.
3. Join professional groups as an undergraduate—it’s cheaper and provides TONS of opportunities to network… and SCHOLARSHIPS.