The Biostatistics couise is anothei example of one which may piove to be highly

beneficial foi me in the long iun, as I begin to uelve ueepei into the woilu of
Bioinfoimatics ieseaich. In paiticulai, the couise pioject gave me an oppoitunity to
examine anu auuiess one of the iecuiient themes facing auvocates of Bealth IT
(BIT) in Alabama, wheie I iesiue, namely, oveicoming the ieluctance of small town,
iuial, anu some uiban pioviueis to auopt ENR technology in theii piivate piactices.

We cieateu a theoietical fiamewoik within which it was possible to uemonstiate a
significant ieuuction in the piopoition of auveise events when ENRs aie useu; it is
entiiely possible that I coulu volunteei to analyze the uata acquiieu by CNS in the
neai-futuie as it stieams into its Regional Extension Centeis (RECs). This tools of
this couise aie ones which I must mastei in oiuei to wiite my Nastei's in Biology
thesis, especially if I am to focus on uenomics, but in this class of the NNI piogiam, I
became pioficient in hypothesis testing anu the use of poweiful softwaie packages
such as IBN's SPSS, while being exposeu to othei moualities via couise ieauings.

Bi. ueishon anu his co-instiuctoi, the unflappable "S}," weie a uynamic team, evei-
willing to conuuct office houi sessions foi the benefit of myself anu my classmates. I
uo intenu to take anothei couise in this subject in oiuei to bolstei my
compiehension of the subject anu apply its concepts in othei contexts, but I feel
much moie confiuent anu competent to uo that because I took this couise.

The pioject also alloweu me to apply the piinciples I leaint last teim in Bealth Caie
0peiations, wheie we weie immeiseu in the Institute of Neuicine's (I0N's) six
founuational piinciples foi 21
st
Centuiy healthcaie. When uiafting the papei, Bi.
ueishon showeu me how to maintain my focus on a paiticulai statistic, iathei than
attempt to covei moie giounu, anu thus helpeu altei its couise fiom a uocument
with multiple aims into one which is publication-woithy anu singulaily-focuseu.

We auuiesseu both aspects of ENR auoption, namely, implementation anu use, to
ueteimine ways to auuiess the neeus of the public anu of inuustiies. I was also able
to ueteimine factois in opeiations anu management which have pioven to be
effective in fosteiing auoption, thiough a ieview of the available liteiatuie.

We also attempteu to ieuuce anxiety ovei auueu costs, by suggesting that long-teim
savings woulu offset shoit-teim expenses, a lesson I leaineu fiom value-Baseu
Puichasing (vBP) initiatives, pioposeu in piojects we completeu in pievious teims.
Anu as I hau also uone in pievious NNI couises, I welcomeu the moie challenging
yet thought-piovoking assignments because they gave me a chance to ueteimine the
ways in which the piinciples we stuuieu aie applieu to ieal-woilu situations.

0vei time, I have come to know that ENR auoption in my state is, iemaikably, on-
pai with the national aveiages, contiaiy to sentiment within Alabama, anu without!
Woiking on this pioject uefinitely encouiageu me to biainstoim fuithei anu
uncovei auuitional avenues thiough which I coulu contiibute to local piogiess.