Career Planning
Nursing students should be competent with AI tools in the clinical setting before they enter the workforce, advise MaryAnn Connor, NYU adjunct informatics professor, and Olga Kagan, FANA CEO.
Undergrads and graduates who are interested in healthcare IT can join their local HIMSS chapter for new connections to help them build toward career goals, says Joseph Brown, chair for allied health and HIM at Davenport University.
A HIMSS-NHIT partnership gives students AI training and hands-on experience through actual healthcare projects. Tom Leary, HIMSS senior vice president and head of government relations, and Luis Belen, NHIT CEO, explain.
HIMSS-AMDIS Physician Executive Leader Changemaker Awardee Dr. Deepti Pandita of UCI Health says her many years of HIMSS membership led her to become chair of the HIMSS Physician Committee.
No one gets to their position alone, says Julie Luengas, DNP, RN, Stony Brook Medicine's chief nursing officer. Collaboration, mentorship and collective effort are the true engines behind career growth, she says.
Partnerships between healthcare organizations and academic institutions can help ensure students are better prepared to enter the health IT workforce post-graduation, says Cedric Truss, Georgia State University educator and a HIMSS26 Changemaker.
As medical devices become more complex, the roles of clinical engineers and IT professionals in safeguarding them are becoming more intertwined, says McLaren Health Care's Samantha Jacques, a HIMSS26 Changemaker Award recipient.
Ini Ekiko Thomas, VP of IT and innovation at Memorial Hermann Health System, said HIMSS chapter and national activity has helped her connect with colleagues and vendors that helped solve complex challenges.
Staffing shortages and policy shifts are causing health system chief information officers to seek outside help as they work to manage technology imperatives, a KLAS report shows.
Dr. Jonathan M. Sternlieb, an Epic Emeritus CMIO and longtime informaticist, offers historical context to health IT for newer health IT professionals and takeaways that can foster stronger multidisciplinary IT-oriented teams.