Julie Nguyen, a second-year student at Belmont’s College of Pharmacy, recently accepted an internship at axialHealthcare to work with the Enterprise Research team. A health technology and care solutions company, axialHealthcare partners with insurers and providers to improve patient outcomes regarding pain and opioid care.
By joining the team as an intern, Nguyen will support axialHealthcare’s efforts by using data from claims and other sources under the guidance of Dr. Amber Watson, clinical pharmacist and scientific writer at axialHealthcare. As the Enterprise Research Pharmacy Intern, Nguyen will also collaborate with data scientists, analyze critical literature and develop technical writing skills to contribute to their mission.
“We are excited to have Julie join the Enterprise Research team for her summer internship at axialHealthcare. Julie’s writing skills and interest in drug informatics will serve her well as she contributes to axialHealthcare’s publishing initiative and supports the organization’s mission of mitigating opioid abuse and improving the wellbeing of patients in pain,” said Watson.
Nguyen is currently a student in Belmont’s College of Pharmacy with a concentration in healthcare informatics. In addition to strong clinical classes, she also has both didactic and hands-on training on contemporary healthcare technology and its use in pharmacy practice.
“I’m excited to have this opportunity,” Nguyen said. “I’ll work hard to develop diverse skills and become a more well-rounded pharmacist in the future. I appreciate all my professors for their guidance and support thus far, and I’m very grateful to axialHealthcare for extending this offer to me.”
Dr. Anthony Blash, associate professor and lecturer in the College of Pharmacy’s healthcare informatics concentration, created a sequence of five courses and one-month intensive experiential rotation to prepare Belmont’s student pharmacists to become future leaders in healthcare informatics.
“Nashville is considered by many to be home to the U.S. healthcare industry, with nearly 300 companies providing healthcare synergies found in few other places,” said Blash. “If your interests lie in healthcare and informatics, our program stands apart. Our students have the opportunity to develop an impressive project portfolio during their time at Belmont, working on projects such as the creation of start pump clinical decision support, live EHR implementations, becoming data analysts while exploring big data and analytics with Microsoft SQL and creating artificial intelligence software for Amazon Alexa.”
As an HIMSS Approved Education Partner, the College of Pharmacy is the only pharmacy school in the world with a healthcare informatics concentration leading to an internationally recognized certification in healthcare informatics, which may be obtained before experiential rotations, residency inquiries and job searches begin.
The informatics concentration at Belmont is partnering with interested organizations to provide competent student and graduate healthcare informatics with clinical expertise as APPE rotation students, and hopes to expand their program to include residents and/or fellows. To find out more about collaborating, contact Dr. Blash.