Heather Kimball, CIIP
Senior Radiology Informatics Analyst
Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, Colorado
Heather Kimball enrolled at the University of South Florida as a biochemistry major with dreams of medical school. To help pay for her tuition, she took a position as a technical assistant with a nearby hospital system.
“The IT department was upgrading the RIS system,“ Heather recalls. “Since I was working evenings, I became one of the super users. Then, after the hospital put in a PACS system, my soon-to-be mentor asked if I wanted to be a part-time RIS/PACS analyst on his team.“
A year later, he offered her a full-time position. “I accepted, because by then I had fallen in love with PACS,“ she recalls. “Like a million-piece puzzle, it was fun to figure out and put together.“
Heather continued her schooling part-time and eventually earned degrees in biology, chemistry, and information technology. In the meantime, she became involved with SIIM and a PACS user group. Through conferences and her user group work, she met people through whom she eventually found positions in Arizona, California, and Colorado, where she lives and works now.
She learned about the CIIP credential when she began attending the annual SIIM conference. “All of the leaders of our field at the time started getting it—even my mentors at work,“ she recalls. “The proudest moment of my life was when I received that certificate.“
Today, Heather is working on her 10-Year Requirements by teaching information technology at a CIIP boot camp. “The topic makes me laugh,“ she says, “because that was the section of the exam I was most worried about.“ She says the test's wide scope was challenging, but ultimately helpful. “It gave me a broader understanding of how all the IT systems interact with our applications,“ she says.
Heather encourages her colleagues to earn the credential. “It will open doors for you,“ she says. “The CIIP community is close-knit and ever-evolving. We learn from and support each other in more ways than I can list. I'm honored to be part of it.“