Consultant Corner | Jackie Young – A Heart to Serve
“I’ve always wanted to be someone that helps in healthcare. I’m a caregiver at heart, and working in the electronic medical record allowed me to continue to contribute to the care of the patient.” – Jackie Young
The guiding light that has led Jackie Young through a successful career in healthcare has been her heart to serve. Her career and commitment to service began in the United States Army. While studying at the U.S. Army Health Institute and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, she found her first true passion while working in Radiology.
After her time with the Army, Jackie returned to Virginia where she started working as an X-Ray Technologist at a growing regional health system. Jackie enjoyed this time as she built strong connections with patients, working hard to improve their experience with each encounter. She loved that each day presented the opportunity to connect with new patients and assist them on the path to recovery. However, as her employer health system moved to digital imaging, Jackie found a new interest and a new opportunity: she moved into a PACS Administrator role. This would allow her to broaden her focus in healthcare, learning new skills that incorporated her love of radiology and interest in technology. After this change, her supervisor presented the opportunity for Jackie to attend the teaching hospital – the largest hospital in the Virginia Beach area.
During this period in her career, the health system where Jackie worked rapidly grew throughout the region. As new hospitals opened, she found another unique opportunity that allowed her to expand on her PACS administration experience. She worked alongside other PACS Administrators in a program that rotated them among different hospitals (within the health system) to work on projects ranging from six months to a year. This program created experiences where Jackie could meet new providers, learn new processes and travel to new cities while honing her skills as a PACS Administrator. Although still a full-time employee, this model gave Jackie a glimpse into what it might be like to work in project-based increments – just like a consultant.
Eventually, Jackie moved to the Richmond area where she began working as a Clinical Transformation Specialist, building on expertise earned during her time in radiology. Soon after moving to Richmond, Jackie learned that the health system she joined would be migrating from the Cerner electronic medical record (EMR) system to Epic’s EMR. This is no easy transition, but – once committed – the health system moved quickly with the implementation, intensifying the need for staffing support for both the legacy system and the new Epic platform. Although Jackie was well-versed in Cerner, she was eager for the opportunity to learn Epic as part of the EMR migration efforts. Along with a few of her coworkers, she applied to join the Epic project and anxiously awaited a response from her supervisor. As the project inched closer to starting, the dreaded “We’re sorry to inform you but, . . .” notice appeared in her inbox.
Jackie described this as a defining moment in her career. She said, “I’m not going to lie, I was devastated when I wasn’t picked up for the Epic project.” Although shaken, Jackie had faith that this was merely part of her story and that she had more to contribute in other ways. She was confident that there were new and exciting opportunities ahead of her, she just couldn’t see them yet.
Despite not being selected for the Epic project, Jackie was able to stay with the health system – in a consulting role – serving as Senior Team Lead on the legacy (Cerner) system. She relied on her previous experience working cross-functionally to lead a team of consultants by building, maintaining and supporting Cerner PowerOrders, PowerPlans, RadNet and Scheduling. It was during this time that Jackie was introduced to iMethods through a mutual friend, Ruth Mullins. Ruth and Jackie were working at the same health system together, and Ruth felt that Jackie would connect well with the iMethods team and culture.
Jackie first met iMethods (and her future Recruiter Sean Kelly) in 2020. From their first conversation, Sean recognized that Jackie possessed an amazing work ethic, was committed to service and radiated positivity. Jackie felt that same connection with Sean and said “After Ruth introduced me to Sean and the team at iMethods, I was immediately hooked. . . Sean has been the best Recruiter I’ve ever had, and has always made himself available to answer questions or just check in on me.”
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“One of my favorite things about being a Recruiter is building relationships. Not false relationships, but genuine, deep relationships that blossom into great friendships over time. Jackie and I have known each other for about 18 months and finally have been able to serve her in my capacity with iMethods” – Sean Kelly (Lead Healthcare IT Recruiter)
