This blog will contain my experiences and thoughts about returning to school as a middle age woman with a husband and children. The transition to another career and the anxieties associated with making a change late in life. Also, the challenges of being an educator in both the traditional setting and the online learning environment.

I grew up in Florida and attended a community college to pursue a career in medical transcription. The program director of the medical transcription program steered me towards a career in health information. After obtaining my associate degree, I transferred to a 4-year university to obtain my bachelor’s degree in health information management. With so many hospitals in the area, I landed a job in the HIM department part-time and learned about every aspect of the department.

After graduating from college, I landed my first job as an evening supervisor at a 500-bed teaching hospital. The HIM department is quite a different place on the 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. shift. The hectic pace of the department slows down after 5 p.m. and you can get a tremendous amount of work done. Working second shift was great for me because the director practically lived at the hospital. I took this opportunity to learn all I could from her.

After holding this position for 2 years, I moved on to management positions in HIM. Over the years, I have worked in just about every area of health care including acute care, ambulatory care, public health, long term care and consulting. I recently returned to school to obtain a master’s degree in post-secondary and adult education. I am employed at a community college in the allied health division. I teach administrative office procedures, coding and insurance, law and ethics and medical transcription. In addition to my teaching position at the community college, I am also an adjunct instructor at an online university.