VerCherria Goodman and Jeff Harris – students in UAB Graduate Programs in Health Informatics. – and Jonathan Patterson, a student in the PhD in Administration-Health Services, Health Informatics Track, have been awarded merit scholarships by the Alabama Chapter of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (Alabama HIMSS). According to the Alabama HIMSS Scholarship Program, they were each selected for “academic excellence, actively engage in supporting the Alabama Chapter activities and demonstrate leadership potential in the healthcare information and management systems industry.”
VerCherria GoodmanAdele Allison, president, Alabama HIMSS and Principal Strategic Healthcare Consultant, said:
“Alabama HIMSS is proud to support the development of these health IT students. Today more than ever, the future of healthcare quality improvement and affordability will be grounded in infrastructure and data. UAB answers this call for workforce development year over year.”
“We are so thankful that ALHIMSS values our programs and our students by providing these scholarships to students in Alabama,” said Sue Feldman, Ph.D., director, UAB Graduate Programs in Health Informatics. “Not only do these scholarships help offset the cost of graduate school, but they also lead to networking opportunities.”
VerCherria Goodman, M.S. in Health Informatics program
Goodman, who will graduate in August 2021, is currently employed as a unit secretary at an acute care facility on the cardiothoracic surgery unit.
Jeff HarrisAs someone who spent much of her childhood in and out of hospitals, her ultimate goal is for her “educational and professional experiences to improve the quality of care for patients” and best support the patients’ family members
Jeff Harris, M.S. in Health Informatics program
Harris practiced pharmacy for more than two decades before incurring a disability. Unable to practice pharmacy, he developed a passion for writing and open-source software, which led him to a newfound home in Health Informatics.
Harris, who lives in New Orleans, is scheduled to graduate in August 2022. He plans to use his experience and skills “to help create a higher quality, more cost efficient, and more equitable health system.”
Jonathan Patterson, PhD in Administration-Health Services, Health Informatics Track program
Jonathan PattersonPatterson’s expertise is in data mining and data analytics. In research, he focuses on modeling the risk of adverse events. In commercial work, he focuses on studies of the efficacy of digital health coaching applications and measuring/quantifying an individual’s engagement in their health.
Patterson, who is on track to graduate in August 2022, works with the UAB Center for Health Organization Transformation (CHOT) and is an intern with Pack Health. He hopes to one day “create the framework and infrastructure necessary to change electronic health records to multitask learning models that will generate knowledge and improve patient outcomes.”
Goodman, Harris and Patterson each receive $1,250 for their award. They will be recognized for their excellence at the HIMSS Gulf Coast Chapters Conference (GC3) 2021 in Mobile in November 2021.
