Module 4

Ryan Williams

Module 4

I chose to interview my dad for this assignment. He is the Director of Information Systems at Davis Hospital in Layton, Utah. He has worked there for 19 years and has always liked his job. He deals with most of the electronics in the hospital and has been in contact with almost everybody in the hospital ranging from the people in housekeeping to surgeons.

            What does he do? Well, He manages the computers, networking, servers, and technology infrastructure in the hospital. He also manages a staff of technicians and network engineers as well as two nurses who help train and do project management for new applications. He is not just in charge of part of the hospitals technology, he is in charge of the whole hospital. Being a director is not a competitive job where you want to be better than directors in other places. My dad talks to directors at other hospitals and they share their best practices.

            Up-to-date technology is very important in a hospital. Surgeons would always want the best software there is available to be able to do the best they can. This is part of being the IS director, to make sure all the software is not only working, but is also up-to-date. To stay current you need to be reading online about new software, but you also can’t be the expert in all areas which is why you have staff to specialize in different areas.

            IS directors also need to have people skills. You will not always be working just on computer, you will be working with someone on that computer either helping them with a problem on it or working on developing a program. If you were not good with people then it would be much harder to help someone understand why a program might not be running correctly just by showing them.

            To be a manger you need to have at least a bachelor’s degree, but to be a director, it is preferable to have a master’s Degree. My dad actually has a Master’s Degree in business administration. You also need to have a good view of problems in the place of work not just in the present, but problems that could happen in the future.

            Most IS directors have a 9-5 work schedule with some occasional late night days and some work on weekends. Most directors do not have to travel very much but are usually local with some business trips every so often. On average, and IS director makes $110,031 a year.