I'm 63, but I feel like a fresh college graduate. I had a wonderful career in healthcare, but I grew fed up and got out. That was over 3 years ago; I tried some temporary work, thought I might go back in, thought I might just retire and watch TV. Really, I was grieving my choice in the first place. Like so many in healthcare, I'd gone into it as a young man with a dysfunctional family, hoping to help myself and those I loved by training myself to help others. I became good at caretaking, but my family relationships didn't wind up with the Hollywood happy ending I'd hoped for. And sure enough, even though I didn't want it to, my profession became my identity. So when I felt like a failure, I felt like all of me was a failure. Not true, really, but I still felt a profound sense of loss.
I'd really wanted to be a mathematician. My parents didn't approve, and being non-rebellious, I discovered what they liked and went that direction. Now I wanted to go back to my geeky side. I'd always had an interest in computers, and I started seriously looking to change careers to work with Electronic Health Records. But I had a self-confidence crisis: my son has a new Computer Science degree but no experience; he could easily get employers to take him on just because he's enthusiastic and young. I have years of life experience but no computer credentials, so I was sure nobody would want to hire my old gray head.
Then, a few weeks ago, I saw a New York Times article on WorldVistA, the group that has begun taking the Department of Veteran Affairs medical software out into the commercial world. Hastily I arranged to go to their conference in Seattle, June 15-17. I met wonderful people there, one of whom encouraged me to start this blog about my experiences as I work to become a VistA vendor.
More later...
