Probably In Between

My Epic Journey (pun fully intended)

I didn’t break into the Health IT field because everything was perfectly lined up. I did it during a layoff, pregnant, in school, and in the middle of a global pandemic.

I was working as a medical coder and had just enrolled in the Bachelor’s Health Information Management program. My plan was to complete the program and then earn my Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) credential, a widely recognized credential in healthcare that prepares you to manage and protect health information across electronic systems.

Not long after, I found out our positions were being offshored to some contractors in India, and around the same time, learned I was pregnant with my daughter. It was a lot to process at once, but my company informed us that employees affected by the layoffs would be prioritized for interviews.

I took that as my chance to apply for an Epic analyst position again. Epic is one of the most widely used Electronic Medical Record systems in the country and even internationally. The catch is you can only get certified if your employer sponsors you or you work directly for Epic. I leaned on my coding background and my 6 years of end user experience to sell myself as the perfect person for the job.

By the time our official day of work arrived, I still hadn’t heard anything back about the position so I ultimately went out on severance. It was a strange mix of relief, fear and “ok what now”??- very on brand for my life always being “in between”. About a month after I was out of work, I got the call: they wanted to offer me the role.

That moment started the journey to where I am today. Looking back, that season forced me to bet on myself even when nothing felt stable-job loss, pregnancy, school and a global pandemic all at once. It taught me that being “in between” isn’t always a sign that you’re failing; sometimes it’s just the part of the story where the pivot is happening in real time.

If you’re in a similar place—laid off, changing careers, or navigating big life changes—you don’t have to have it all figured out to take the next step. Sometimes the best opportunities show up right after everything falls apart.

Stay tuned-my next posts will share tips to help you get on the path to break into Health IT, becoming an Epic analyst specifically, and how I increased my salary by over $30,000 in 3 years.