Kara Winzenreid, a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences: Diagnostic Imaging, truly embodies determination and doing what it takes to achieve a goal. And it’s paid off – she’s already leveraged her degree into a new role as a Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACs) administrator – a job she started even before finishing the program.
Kara, who worked in diagnostic imaging for 15 years (two years in x-ray, 13 in ultrasound), wanted a bachelor’s degree so she could transition into a PACs administrator role.
“At that time, not having a bachelor’s degree was perfectly acceptable,” Kara says. She notes in the past decade, she’s found that a bachelor’s degree is required to leave the direct patient care route.
“I thought, OK, I need to reevaluate and figure out how I can get to that endgame so that I can advance a little bit further.”
In Kara’s words, a PACs administrator “is the marriage of being in x-ray technology and the IT aspect.” After working in direct patient care for years, she was in need of a change – and liked the idea of working on the backend of the x-ray process.
“People who have a background in x-ray are usually the best candidates to maintain that system because of that radiology background,” she adds.
She found the UW Flexible Option UW-Milwaukee Diagnostic Imaging degree through a Facebook group, Sonographers Do It In the Dark, where people were discussing where to get their bachelor’s degrees. Kara has certifications from a hospital-based x-ray and ultrasound program and didn’t want to start from zero as if she’d never gone to college.
“Ultrasound school and x-ray school together were three and a half years of my life,” she says. “UW-Milwaukee was the only place I found that allowed me to basically transition all that prior education toward a bachelor’s degree so that I didn’t have to start over again.”
Kara’s flown through her courses because of her work ethic but notes the flexibility of her past job. “I worked at an outpatient center, so all my patients were scheduled. So if a patient came early–if I had 20 minutes to work on something–that’s basically what I did. The website for UW-Milwaukee was easily accessible. I could just work on a project when I wasn’t actively doing something for my job, but then also obviously I still did schoolwork on weeknights and on weekends. I pretty much just kept plugging at it whenever I had the opportunity.”
“I also had a boss who was supportive of working on your schoolwork in your downtime,” she adds. “But basically, time management is something I’ve always been pretty good at. I’m not one to dawdle or take an hour to do something; I can do it in 20 minutes.” However, Kara still had a game plan of when she could study to help achieve a work-life balance alongside school.
Kara’s current role as a PACs administrator overlapped with her final subscription period in the program, which proved challenging. Instead of completing projects during the workday, Kara could only do schoolwork at night and on weekends for the first three months of her new job.
“You’re constantly on the clock and there is basically no downtime. And that was tough because I had set it in my head that I wanted to be done by October.”
She told herself she was going to finish her degree and do the best she could, even though it was a struggle. She advises students in similar situations to go “at your own pace and realize: don’t burn yourself out. Just do it when you feel ready. Because when you do the subscription plan, the faster you do the degree, the less time it takes, the less cost it takes.”
“But I think you have to consider your mental health, too,” she says. If she had to work her current job while going to school, she may not have been able to finish without experiencing burnout.
Kara enjoyed the program because her instructors had realistic expectations. As an added bonus, they provided the course content without the need to buy an expensive book.
“For the most part, you really didn’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on books and extra materials to perform the assignments there. It was provided within the course itself, which was a huge help.”
Kara learned skills she’s been able to apply on the job, like technical writing. She also advises prospective students that some general education courses may still be required. For example, Kara completed a geology course. “You still have to pay your dues a little bit,” she says.
As someone who was deeply motivated to move into her new role, Kara sped through the program, taking around five classes per subscription period. “[The classes] that I was able to accelerate through more so than others were the ones that were related directly to imaging. I already did the schooling and I had 15 years of experience. It was much easier to absorb the material when I already had a background. Taking a biology class when you’ve been in the healthcare field for over 15 years [is] not that hard, really, because you pretty much know half of the material you’re being tested on.”
Kara also completed the Health Care Informatics Certificate with her degree.
“I knew I wanted to do some sort of healthcare informatics position. I wasn’t looking for a management position; I was looking for something in IT. So being able to hold up this certificate and be like, ‘Hey, not only do I have a bachelor’s degree and 15 years’ experience, I even have this certificate saying that I’ve completed training in this specific field.’ Add to the fact that it was only two additional classes for me to get that certificate, [and] it was a no brainer.”
Kara is happy with her new job as a PACs administrator, despite a long commute. She’s working in person now, but after the training period finishes, she can go remote.
“I would say I really like the job. It’s very demanding right now, and I think it’s a demanding job in general. It’ll be less demanding when I don’t have to drive for three to three and a half hours every single day, though.”
In five years, Kara sees herself in her current role, perhaps working her way into a leadership role.
“It’s better hours and getting to work from home is a huge treat. I know that was a big thing during the pandemic, but a lot of companies that offered that during the pandemic aren’t really offering that anymore, and it is something that my company is still offering.”
Are you a sonographer or x-ray technician looking to make a career change? Call an enrollment adviser at 608-800-6762 or email at flex@uwex.wisconsin.edu to get more information.