I’m a writer and trainer for the electronic charting system used by a large hospital system that encompasses four hospitals and about 6000 employees. I’m one of only five people who train everyone else in how to use the system. I hold bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English, and I started my career as a middle school English teacher, then moved into technical writing — mostly with the rental car industry, and then in November 2007 started writing and training for the hospital system. Science and medicine has always been a strong fascination for me. Almost all the way through school I aspired to become an astronaut and physician. However, in college, I learned that I did not have the math ability to pursue medicine. Although I’m quite young, I’ve had more than my share of health problems, so I’ve seen the good, bad, and ugly from health professionals. Now that I’m in a hospital environment, some of my fascination is being satisfied, being able to see doctors and nurses at work and doing the job of saving lives. I now see first hand the struggles of physicians and nurses as they work intensely long hours with extremely ill patients, and I am both humbled and blessed to see the human side of medicine.
