As the world shrinks and becomes increasingly competitive, it is important to actively look for ways to raise your value. Unlike days of old, you now own your career path and professional development. Your skills set needs to be aligned with the morphing economy. It is important to keep scanning the horizon for ways to provide value that the market will reward through meaningful work and pay. To be valued, we must have value, and value is a moving target. Key questions as we plan for the future are: What trends can we benefit from? Where should we target? How can we move there?

Make it a practice to keep up with trends that can uplift your value. We all know that a convergence of trends is causing the healthcare industry to grow rapidly. An aging, longer-living population means two things: increased demand for healthcare services and less workers to provide them. Technology continues to play an increasing role in this industry. If you are looking to latch on to a rising trend to buoy your career value, targeting healthcare seems like a good bet.

The first question then becomes, where in healthcare? As an IT professional, what do you target within such a large industry? An interesting field is evolving that warrants investigation and consideration: medical informatics.

According to the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA.org), "medical informatics has to do with all aspects of understanding and promoting the effective organization, analysis, management, and use of information in health care." Our friends at Wikipedia note that medical informatics tools include not only computers but also clinical guidelines, formal medical terminologies, and information and communication systems. Around since the 1950s, where the earliest use of computation for medicine was for dental projects at the US National Bureau of Standards, the field has grown with the use and sophistication of technology it uses.

The second question is, how do you retool yourself if you do not yet have experience in healthcare? Northwestern University in Illinois has an answer for those in IT: an on-line Master of Science in Medical Informatics (MMI) degree that is exciting in its pragmatic yet innovative approach.

Beginning in the winter of 2007, the curriculum is designed for current IT and healthcare professionals who wish to have a deeper knowledge of the impact of information technology on healthcare as well as those seeking a new career in medical informatics in both the public and private sectors.

There are several medical informatics programs from a variety of institutions available. The MMI program, however, is unique in many ways. It is the results of an innovative and powerful partnership between the School of Continuing Studies and the world-renown Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. To make it practical, there is a real-world capstone project that allows for individualized, applied research. Not just focused on technical and medical skills development, a two-part leadership series is included to augment overall professional skills. And, by making it an on-line offering, it is flexible and available anywhere the students are.

Medical informatics certainly makes sense given the trends in healthcare spending, particularly in technology. The thought of returning to school, however, can be an intimidating one. But our work world is one of accelerating change that rewards the adaptable. And it is not a temporary period of whitewater before we return to calm seas. It is constant turbulence that requires vigilance, adaptability and urgency around continuous learning. Healthcare and technology are aching for talent. Investing in retooling to jump on this rising trend can help you build value the market will reward.