Oh boy… I honestly intended to make this “Epic Willow pharmacist” blog a daily entry blog but then when I actually started the job I thought… “Okay, a daily write-up may not be practical… I’ll make is a weekly blog post.”
Well, now 11 months into the job and I realize that I had seriously under-estimated what I thought was possible with this job.
Being an Epic Willow Analyst and a Clinical Pharmacist is great!!!
It’s a tough job, and there’s a steep, really steep learning curve, and even after all these months on the job, I’m still climbing it almost every day.
So I’m going to try and fast-track the last 10 months in this blog post and then move forward on at least a weekly basis from here with continuous updates about the goings-on in my IT Epic Analyst job.
=============================
So I went to Verona, WI for my classroom training and the Willow application requires you to go out there multiple times… So I made all those trips.
The nice thing is that once you register for the classroom training, you get access to the Epic User Web so you can actually start studying before you get there and I would advise everyone to do this because it really helps you keep up in class.
In-between the trips to Wisconsin, we had projects to work on and mini-tests to take along the way, all of which count towards your overall certification score. After getting back from all the classes it was time to buckle down and study study study for the big certification exam.
It was intense…. And tough… But woohoo… I made it!!
I passed the certification exam and got my very own certificate directly from Epic. It was framed very nicely and all. It was so rewarding and such a huge relief to get that email from the Epic folks asking me what address they should send my official certificate to. When I received it I could see that it was like an actual diploma!!
Then the real work began…
It was time to put all that hard grueling work into practice. And then the real work began. I was thrown head first into an active implementation of the epic Willow application. Now I know that probably means nothing to you but essentially the translation is simply: “I started actually building the Epic Willow software for the pharmacy folks”.
Since then I’ve been actively rolling out the Epic software to the pharmacies in phases.
And now you’re all caught up.
=============================
From here forward, I’ll continue on with the day-to-day or week-to-week goings on. If you’re finding these posts beneficial or you have more questions please feel free to leave a comment below because I’ll be really glad to hear from you.
In the meantime, I also just added a page where I answer the questions I get from other readers and you can check it out here. I’ll continue to add more Q&As over there as I get them.
I know that not many pharmacists get to say this, and not very often either, but right now, I love my job!! 🙂
Amanda Miller says
Hi Dani, I am a pharmacist at a big health system in NC and for the past 3 years I have been working as an Epic certified trainer, training all new pharmacy staff on Epic. I loved my job in the beginning and still feel rewarded knowing I am preparing new pharmacy staff to work in Epic, but my job is not challenging and I am currently considering a job as an analyst at a different health system. I was wondering how you still feel about the job? I wanted to get an honest opinion from a pharmacist outside of my organization.
Thank you,
Amanda Miller
Dani says
Hi Amanda!
Congratulations on working as a certified trainer for the past 3 years. From what I can tell from our own certified trainers, doing what you do keeps you on your toes, and when there’s an upgrade to the system… Ooh…! So, I just want to acknowledge what you do 🙂
To be honest, I’m now almost three years in as an analyst and the nature of the work I do has changed which has also changed my perspective as well.
Here’s why:
In the beginning, when we were first implementing the Epic software, there was a LOT to do… So much to learn… So much collaboration with other teams and of course with the Epic implementation team (I mean the team Epic sends to your organization from their Wisconsin head office to help you get set up correctly), and on and on…
Now that the implementation phase is over, we are full blown into the maintenance phase. This phase is all about keeping things running smoothly and fixing issues as they come up from and for the end-users, and to be honest… Even though things have slowed way down and are a lot less hectic, I miss the excitement of the implementation phase.
Depending on your “work personality-type”, if the organization you’re moving to is already in the maintenance phase of their Epic lifecycle, then you might like the quieter pace (after your initial ramp-up and training, of course). For you it would be a new challenge by virtue of the fact that you’d be doing something different but if you want something that is a lot more active and interactive, you might end up feeling not as challenged anymore in due time.
One thing I have learned from being in the Epic community is that there are some Epic consultant positions for people who enjoy doing the implementation phase specifically, and I think I’m one of those people. While some others prefer the more level day-to-day routine of the maintenance phase.
So as you make this decision, take into consideration what phase of the Epic lifecycle you feel more drawn to and whether or not the other organization will offer you that then make the decision that will be in your best interest down the road.
I hope that helps and I’d love to hear what you decide! 🙂