HIA honor student earns second consecutive national scholarship
October 14, 2008
For a second consecutive year, Daphne Pell, a senior in the IU School of Informatics at IUPUI, is the recipient of a FORE Scholarship awarded by the American Health Information Management Association.
The FORE (Foundation Of Research and Education) scholastic merit awards provide $1000 stipends to outstanding students pursuing degrees in health care administration. Pell, a 37 year-old resident of Lapel, Indiana, was named a 2007 FORE Scholarship recipient as well. Corporate and individual donors provide funding for the national scholarships program.
Pell, who sports a 4.0 GPA in the School’s Health Information Administration (HIA) program, started her academic journey at IUPUI in 2004. Like many IUPUI students, Pell juggles a full-time academic load with the demands of being a spouse and mother of two boys ages 12 and 14. Still, she’s on track to graduate in June 2009.
“My days are busy, very busy!” said Pell. “That's a primary reason that I decided not to work, so as to finish my degree as soon as possible and to be with the kids as needed. Time management is critically important.”
Although she often takes a class on campus each semester for the personal interaction with instructors and fellow students, Pell has completed most of her academic course work online via distance education.
“I really like online education. Basically it’s the same as being in class and provides the same level of learning,” explained Pell. “The faculty (Lesa Tennant, Danita Forgey, Ruth Walker) provides excellent instruction. All are, or have been, professionals in the field, and it’s extremely helpful getting such first-hand experience.”
Pell’s choice of HIA as a degree program was strongly influenced when someone handed her a brochure and she realized the program combined her primary interests: accounting and medicine. She calls it “a perfect fit.”
Clinical site visits to Ball Memorial Hospital have introduced Pell and other HIA students how a health information management department assembles medical and electronic health records. And, she is working with HIA and Media Arts and Science students and faculty on an animation teaching proper medical coding procedures. The hope is that one day it might be used commercially.
“I’m not just learning from a book,” said Pell. “I really like that about IUPUI informatics.”
While a master’s degree could be in her future, Pell’s immediate goal is to land a position in hospital information management following graduation.
