Note from the ACDIS Editor: Make the most of the ACDIS Forum

by Carolyn Riel

I always hated in college whenever the conversation of a job after graduation came up, the only advice I every really got was, “It’s all about who you know, so network, network, network.”

As a lifelong introvert this sounded like a death sentence to me. If my career was riding on my ability to network, I just assumed I’d be working in the town grocery store for the rest of my life and not putting that very expensive piece of paper known as a “bachelor’s degree” to use.

Paper or plastic?

Panicking, I went to the university career center and begged them for help.

“I just don’t know how I’m supposed to rely on finding a job through connections when I don’t know anyone already in the field I want to be in,” I cried.

“Networking isn’t about using the connections you already have,” she told me. “It’s about finding what you have in common with people and using that middle ground to make connections.”

She introduced me to the university’s hiring webpage; a database of companies currently hiring looking specifically for students graduating from that university, simply because the hiring managers also went to the same school and wanted to give new graduates the opportunity. A few weeks and interviews later, I placed my first job out of college, eventually leading me four years later to ACDIS.

Networking doesn’t stop once you find a job that fits you, however.  Building connections and relationships throughout our careers helps us grow both personally and professionally. You never know what projects may land in your lap that a prior connection can help you with, or how you can assist others’ careers with the connections and knowledge you’ve learned along the way.

While ACDIS has many networking opportunities for those in the CDI community from the national conference, virtual events, and CDI Week, one other tool for networking is the ACDIS Forum.

The Forum has some frequent contributors participating in the conversations, but there are always ongoing opportunities for networking and connecting. The Forum is split into categories, ranging in topics from denials to CDI expansion to physician advisors. Have a specific coding or clinical question? Try taking it to the Forum and see if someone has already asked it, or to learn what your CDI community might have to say about it now due to recent changes in coding or other guidance.

Maybe you don’t have a specific question and just want to learn? Go ahead and skim through the threads to see if anything piques your interest. You might stumble on something new that you didn’t know.

Networking is a two-way street. It requires those with experience willing to donate their time and knowledge, too. So even if you don’t have a question yourself, maybe you have an answer to someone else’s question or thoughts about a discussion currently taking place. And a little fact that you might now know? Many of our weekly Q&As that appear in CDI Strategies come from ACDIS Forum threads, so not only are question askers receiving the answers they’re looking for, but the larger ACDIS community is gaining great insight as well.

Have questions about participating in the ACDIS Forum? Click here to learn more.

Editor’s note: Riel is the editor for ACDIS. Contact her at criel@acdis.org.