Any CS/career change help?

[bry55n92]

Hey everyone!

So my background is somewhat specific, I've worked in healthcare for the past 10 years, the last 7ish years as a paramedic. I currently work as a critical care flight paramedic as well as run our electronic health record system including multiple state compliance programs.

I'm looking to leave healthcare and instead do anything CS/IT/engineering related. Honestly I just want to work at least partly remotely. My wife and I had a child and because of her schedule and mine we can't do school or childcare. One of us has to pivot, and she makes 3x what I make so it's the logical choice. I care more about speed than I do anything else. I just want to be able to do school activities and be off on major holidays while my kids are young-I haven't done that in a decade and I never realized they would be important to me.

Your Location: Massachusetts, USA
Your Age: 32
What kind of degree do you want?: AS/BS/BAS in either CS/engineering or something. I'm honestly very open to suggestions
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 67.5

School Name Total Credits:
Middlesex Community College : 3
Mid-Plains Community College: 55.5
Quinsigamond Community College: 9

Class Name, Credits, Grade
School Class
Grade Credits
QCC CIS 111 Intro to Microcomputer applications Tested out of P 3
MCC ENG 101 English comp I
B 3
QCC ALH 102 Medical Law and Ethics CPL P 3
QCC BSS 112 Medical/Dental Billing & insurance CPL P 3
ASU ULC BIO 100 Intro to the Living World

C 4
MPCC EMTL 1110 BLS Healthcare Providers (EMTL1110) CPL P 0.5
MPCC EMTL 1520 National EMS Cert (EMT I) (EMTL1520) CPL P 4
MPCC EMTL 1530 National EMS Cert (EMS II) (EMTL1530) CPL P 4
MPCC EMTL-2630-MC-01 Introduction to Paramedicine
A 3
MPCC EMTL-2640-MC-01 Paramedic Pharmacology
A 3
MPCC EMTL-2650-MC-01 Airway Management/Ventilation
A 1
MPCC EMTL-2660-MC-01 Patient Assessment
A 3
MPCC EMTL-2670-MC-01 Shock Resuscitation/Trauma
A 5
MPCC EMTL-2680-MC-01 Medical Emergencies I
A 5
MPCC EMTL-2690-MC-01 Medical Emergencies II
A 8
MPCC EMTL-2730-MC-01 Special Considerations
A 3
MPCC EMTL-2750-MC-01 Operations/Putting It All Together
A 1
MPCC EMTL-2760-MC-01 Clinical Practicum I
B+ 2
MPCC EMTL-2770-MC-01 Clinical Practicum II
B+ 3
MPCC EMTL-2780-MC-01 Field Practicum I
A 2
MPCC EMTL-2790-MC-01 Field Practicum II
A 3
MPCC EMTL-2100-MC-01 PHTLS (Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Sup
P 1
MPCC EMTL-2110-MC-01 AMLS (Advanced Medical Life Support
P 1
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits:
Emergency Medical Services: Quality Management via National Fire Academy 3 recommended ACE credits

Any certifications or military experience?
Firefighter:
Firefighter I/II from the MA career recruit fire academy
Paramedic Licenses:
National Registry
MA/NH/RI state licenses
International Board of Specialty Certification:
Flight Paramedic
Designated Infection Control Officer
Other:
AHA certifications in CPR, Advanced cardiac life support, Pediatric advanced life support
Neonatal Resuscitation program Advanced provider


Budget: Very flexible. I'd prefer not to break the bank but I'm fortunate and care more about speed and circumstances than I do money.

Commitments: Demanding work schedule that rotates, but outside of that a toddler and wife.

Dedicated time to study: Maybe 10 hours a week right now. There's been serious discussion about going part time or per diem to get the degree needed for the lifestyle change.

Timeline: As fast as reasonable. Degree or internship for final part of degree in < 2 years.

Tuition assistance/reimbursement: No

Thanks for any help or advice!



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[fmsoa]

imo WGU or Purdue Global is your best bet. Both degrees built around IT certifications that enhances your employability. You can do it as fast or as slow as your plan and determination go. Since you have no prior industry experience, check-box degrees such as TESU BACS would likely not work for you. You wouldn't get an internship let alone a job

[Jonathan Whatley]

Any interest in health informatics, like in WGU's BS Health Information Management which can ladder to the RHIA exam?

[bjcheung77]

@bry55n92, Welcome to the board, did you get an associates already with the credits you have? If not, apply to the Pierpont BOG AAS and graduate with an emphasis in Emergency Medical Services (without doing any extra work, just pay for transcripts and the new student fee), since you're not planning to be in the field and pivot to CS/IT related positions, it's best to 'complete' an associates with that in case you want to have a lateral move in that health field later on, or stay in healthcare but move into the IT related positions in that industry. Take your time to review advice, posts/threads, and the WIKI for plans.

I recommend working on the trifecta of certs, degree, experience - you have the experience in an particular field, you can work on some cheap/free certs in Business & IT and use those towards a degree if they have ACE recommendation for college credit. Here's my suggestion - You can then transfer your credits into the UMPI BABA PM & IS concentration (mainly Project Management with some MIS courses), or the UMPI BAS with minor in MIS, also take a second minor if you want in Management or Project Management, this option allows up to 60 credits you can use from the ACE credits/certs. Good luck, have fun...

[bry55n92]

@bry55n92, Welcome to the board, did you get an associates already with the credits you have? If not, apply to the Pierpont BOG AAS and graduate with an emphasis in Emergency Medical Services (without doing any extra work, just pay for transcripts and the new student fee), since you're not planning to be in the field and pivot to CS/IT related positions, it's best to 'complete' an associates with that in case you want to have a lateral move in that health field later on, or stay in healthcare but move into the IT related positions in that industry. Take your time to review advice, posts/threads, and the WIKI for plans.

I recommend working on the trifecta of certs, degree, experience - you have the experience in an particular field, you can work on some cheap/free certs in Business & IT and use those towards a degree if they have ACE recommendation for college credit. Here's my suggestion - You can then transfer your credits into the UMPI BABA PM & IS concentration (mainly Project Management with some MIS courses), or the UMPI BAS with minor in MIS, also take a second minor if you want in Management or Project Management, this option allows up to 60 credits you can use from the ACE credits/certs. Good luck, have fun...

Thanks for the advice!

I think I’m going to plan toget the BOG degree now in EMS and then the google course for the credit for WGU.

Do you or anyone else happen to know the best way to compare/contrast the courses required for the various IT bachelors at WGU?

I’d like to pick one but don’t want to pigeon hole myself so would like to have the 25% difference for a potential second bachelors.


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[bjcheung77]

The easiest option is to review the degree plans for each institution and compare by creating a spreadsheet.  I still think it's a better idea to get the UMPI BAS with a few minors of your choice and ladder up to the MAOL if you needed to, get as many cheap/freebie options you can from the WIKI, as an alternative you can then decide to go for the WGU accelerated BSIT/MSITM degree instead.  

Freebies Link: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Fr..._of_Credit
UMPI Link: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI
WGU Link: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:WGU