Hello! My name is Kenneth L. Simpson Jr., a student of the Masters of Science in Biomedical Informatics (MSBI) program at Nova Southeastern University. While currently enrolled in the program, I have recently obtained a Systems Analyst II position at the University of Maryland Medical System, a large healthcare organization in Maryland. As a systems analyst, my responsibilities include template building, troubleshooting, and testing, to name a few. The MSBI program, along with my previous work experiences, have played a major role in the acceleration of my health information systems career.While completing a Psychology undergraduate degree, I held a position in Enrollment and Student Services at NSU. Approaching completion of the program, I realized that Psychology was not exactly the field for me, and I wanted to earn either a graduate degree in health care or information technology. I felt as though these career fields would land me more personally fulfilling career opportunities. I had begun to research some of the programs at NSU, and found that the newly beginning MSBI program would actually combine both fields. Once I found out the high demand in the field, I was sold.
Coming from a background of absolutely no information technology or health care experience, I was apprehensive about enrolling in the program. However, with the encouragement and support of program manager, Christine Nelson and academic advisor, Dr. Stephen Bronsburg, I was confident in my choice to continue with the program.
Since I had no health care or information technology experience, the program required me to take two pre-requisites to help me gain a better understanding of the field. Under the exceptional instruction of Dr. Arif Rana and Dr. Stephen Bronsburg, I was able to obtain my first healthcare role as a Patient Access Representative at Baptist Health South Florida (BHSF). It was approximately 4 weeks into the program, and I was able to apply that knowledge towards my first healthcare position. I had an understanding of how health care organizations operate, and how health information systems play a major role in improving the quality of patient care.
As a Patient Access Representative, my responsibilities included tasks such as front desk registration, insurance verification, authorizations, etc. In my spare time, I also assisted with system implementation projects as a super user, trainer, and on-site support at BHSF and Eye Physicians of Florida. The project at Eye Physicians of Florida served as my Project Practicum and with my amazing preceptor, Neal Stief, I was able to get some hands-on experience with template customization, editing, and understanding how to ensure systems function to meet end user needs.
The journey I had throughout the program has been quite beneficial in sculpting me to meet the needs of my current organization as a systems analyst. Although I have not yet completed the program, it is evident that the program does an outstanding job of preparing its students for a promising career in the healthcare informatics field. I am proud to say my healthcare informatics career began at Nova Southeastern University’s Biomedical Informatics program.
