What did I learn

Since I’m specializing in Health Informatics I wanted to know the importance of python in the healthcare industry. During thanksgiving break, to know about programming (Python) in a more professional setting, I have met a friend of mine who is working in a reputated company as a healthcare data analyst. She explained to me how python will do wonders especially in a role of data analyst in health care industry in detail, and it’s future importance and how it is making things easier. Since she is also from a non engineering background I was really suprised to see her expertise in python. As a beginner I’m afraid of the coding part and when I told her about this she immediately said “That was me too”. she also told me when you go in depth in coding with alot of own examples it will be very much easy and I experienced it in the first hand . She told me try implementing python functions to your own words or to your own experiences don’t just read the materials provided, Understanding the concept is the main point. She also mentioned that the healthcare industry uses a lot of Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing for image processing. However I have a very long way to go before I can begin exploring topics as advanced as this. One thing she mentioned about the applications of Python that interested me was it’s usage to manage data to optimize healthcare worker allocations within hospitals. Since my final project is focussed on data, I believe this is the right focus for me considering my future ambitions.

How did it go

It went on very well. Since she is my childhood buddy I have shared my experience with python that how I faced troubles with python initially because most of my code writing had a lot of bugs. I told her about my final project idea and she loved it. She even told me about use of libraries like pandas and matplotlib in her role of data analayst which I’m currently using in my final project.

How was the experience different from your expectations

Initially I started this conversation just for the case of meetup post but it went on really well. This meetup with my friend helped me gain a lot of confidence. She told me “python is not difficult you just need to practice,practice and practice”. I really loved our entire conversation about use of python. she even suggested me to utilize online sites like HIT academy that helped her a lot regarding implementing python in the medical field.

Although I’m unaware of how the actual meet-ups are conducted, I personally believe that this one was very productive for me, especially because I could relate to her and we have similar education backgrounds and future goals. I expected a discussion to understand the current trends in the industry, however I took home a lot of useful resource recommendations that will help me with in my career path.