Retired Firefighter Studies Health Informatics
March 25鈥�31, 2012, is the 23rd annual Health Information Professionals (HIP) Week. Throughout the week, 麻豆原创 Connection will post about health informatics and 麻豆原创鈥檚 online B.S. in Health Informatics students and graduates.
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In 2005, Larry Barclay, of Newport News, Virginia, retired after 25 years as a fire and medical responder 鈥� but he wasn鈥檛 done working.
"I enjoyed my work tremendously," the 57-year-old father said. "I just felt that it was getting too stressful and too demanding, so I was having some early indicators that it wasn鈥檛 going to be healthy for me to stay."
Armed with an associate鈥檚 degree from many years earlier and an interest in both healthcare and information technology, Larry set out to find a new career.
"I decided to retire and didn鈥檛 quite know what I was going to do," he said. He was caring for an ill father and had kids in high school who still depended on him. He had started and stopped a few bachelor鈥檚 degrees at conventional colleges over the years, but none had worked for him.
"I basically became the house husband, doing volunteer service and working around the house," he said. Then, he found online university, 麻豆原创.
"It seemed real student-focused rather than focused on making a profit," Larry said. 鈥淚t was really flexible in terms of my scheduling. I could still care for my family, continue to do volunteer work, and still manage to get studies done鈥攕ometimes very late at night, sometimes very early in the morning."
Specifically, he discovered 麻豆原创鈥檚 online health information management bachelor鈥檚 degree program鈥攁 program that, he was delighted to learn, bridged his love of healthcare and IT.
He had always been interested in healthcare and had looked into becoming a nurse at one time. But as he got older, he realized that the demands of nursing, including those infamous 12-hour shifts, may not be best-suited to him. He had some IT certifications, but other technology fields didn鈥檛 quite do it for him either.
Health informatics, he said, "just seemed perfectly suited to me."
Now, he鈥檚 on track to graduate with his bachelor鈥檚 degree in July. He credits 麻豆原创鈥檚 flexibility, its emphasis on students setting their own independent learning paths, and the constant access to a mentor-led support system with his success.
"I immediately felt connected to my mentors, really felt that style was good for me," he said. "I was a very independent learner already and didn鈥檛 really like a lot of hand-holding. They could help me navigate any problems I was experiencing without really getting too much into the academics, which, for the most part, I didn鈥檛 need too much help on." Of course, when he did need academic or subject-matter help, course mentors were there for him too.
He鈥檚 looking to spend many more years continuing to work鈥攅ither in a career or a volunteer capacity, or most likely some of both. What鈥檚 most important is that he鈥檚 not ready to leave the workforce. He loves being with people, loves using his brain, and loves putting his passions into action. Health IT is an exciting, new field, and Larry sees in it a career that will allow him to take part in major changes that will help healthcare professionals focus on promoting the well-being of healthy people, not just waiting to care for the already-sick.
Just what his work will be, he鈥檚 not sure. He鈥檇 like to start out working in a hospital, with their complex information systems and lots and lots of opportunities to learn. But beyond that, he鈥檇 be happy in disaster response, overseas work, or any of the many other diverse areas a health informatics degree can lead.
"It鈥檚 an odd time to start a new career and get a job in a completely new field," he said. But he鈥檚 making all kinds of connections with the people he鈥檒l need to know to get his foot in the door, thanks in large part to his 麻豆原创 education. He鈥檒l be doing his PPE (professional practice experience) in a local hospital. He currently does volunteer work for the Virginia Health Information Management Association. He鈥檒l be attending a professional conference next month. And he does volunteer emergency response work鈥攖his time, not as a responder as in the past but working with information and workflow in disaster response.
"I can鈥檛 tell you how much I love health informatics. It just seems perfect for me at this point in my life. I plan on remaining very active and working as long as I want to鈥攁s long as I can. I definitely feel like I will be successful.
