I’m requesting information on getting Epic or Cerner Certified as a trainer.
I’ve been in the pharmaceutical field for twenty years. I travel now as a contract pharm tech. I want to explore a new avenue of pharmacy, which is IT.
I’ve worked in all genre areas of pharmacy, such as: Oncology/Nuclear, LTC, Retail, MD Office Infusion Center, Home Infusion, Hospital (in-patient), and Preceptor/Trainer/Lead Tech.
I want something more rewarding and supportive for my family.
Hi Lashonda,
I can’t really speak about anything related to Cerner as I don’t have that experience, but regarding Epic certification, here goes…
Becoming an Epic trainer is another great way to get plugged into the Epic system that most people don’t initially consider. Just to make things clear, there are three roles you can you function in within the world of Epic. In the simplest terms, they are:
- Analyst/Builder – in this role you are building the backend systems and infrastructure for the applications that your end users will be working with.
- Instructional Designer – in this role you are creating all the training materials that will be used to train the end users within the Epic classrooms for your end users. The instructional designers are also responsible for training the trainers.
- Certified Trainer – in this role you are responsible for the hands-on training of the end users
The requirements to be an Instructional Designer (ID) and a Certified Trainer (CT) vary from organization to organization however, Epic does make recommendations on what requirements they should have and each organization has the freedom to adopt them or modify them to meet their own individual needs.
Specifically, an organization may choose to either require their ID to become fully certified (just like an analyst/builder would be) or to be proficient (which means they have fewer requirements to meet than is required for certification).
My thoughts: If you’re required to be certified to become an ID, then just go ahead and be an analyst… You’ll typically make more money. Please note, this is just my opinion…
CTs need to achieve proficiency within their application, they do not typically get certified but will have to pass an “observation-type” live performance test, usually conducted by the ID, before they can start training on their own.
The fact that you’re used to traveling for work is a plus because if you have a hard time finding Epic work locally, you can quite easily find a travel position. The good thing about these travel Epic jobs is that you can often request to travel only 50% of the time… And if you’re really good, you might be able to work out a 75-100% remote/telecommute setup. Yes, it’s very possible.
Another thing that you have working in your favor is that since you have worked in other medical fields outside of pharmacy, you are more likely to get opportunities to train for applications outside of Willow… Based on your past experience, I would recommend that you keep your options open to the following applications >> Home Health & Hospice, Beacon (the oncology module), Ambulatory (outpatient MD clinics), Inpatient Orders/Clinical Documentation (inpatient medicine).
I hope this has been helpful to you and best of luck!!
I’d love to hear how things work out for you š