Noah Marie Giberson knew she wanted a career in healthcare. The question was how she could combine that passion with her interest in technology. A family tradition pointed her toward Centennial College in Toronto, where her father, mother and sister also studied. Today, she's enrolled in Centennial College's Digital Health Engineering Technology program, building technical skills for a career in healthcare technology and digital health. Along the way, she's also become a Student Ambassador, helping future students feel at home on campus, all while continuing a family tradition at Centennial.
Helping People Through Technology
“From early on, I knew that I wanted to go into healthcare as a career,” Noah says. “I knew that because I was volunteering seasonally in the summers for three years at SHN Centennary Hospital.”
Health informatics combines healthcare and information technology to improve patient care through better data, digital systems and electronic health records. That's exactly the kind of work Noah wanted to pursue.
“Health informatics felt like the perfect fit between things I like, technology and healthcare,” she says about her choice of career. “I've always felt that I want to help people, and that shows with my time volunteering at the hospital. But I also knew I wasn't drawn as much to the clinical side, like nursing or medicine. Informatics lets me stay connected to healthcare, and still make that same difference, just from a different angle, and that would be the systems and data that help doctors and nurses.”
A Family Tradition
For Noah, choosing Centennial also meant continuing a family legacy. “On top of that,” she continues, “My dad works the healthcare system as a senior technical specialist with Enhance Ontario.”
“Watching that career up close showed me that it's possible to have tech skills, and combine it with people skills,” she adds. “And, knowing that systems I will build or manage will help reduce errors, or make things work faster and safer, that's the kind of impact I want to make.”
“When my family and I immigrated here in 2010,” she explains, “both my parents studied at and graduated from Centennial. And my sister did the bridging nursing program at Centennial, too, so it was deeply familiar to my family.”
“Centennial is known for their main goal of student success,” she adds. “And given that I'm trying to follow my dad's path, I want to be guided by a trusted community whose intentions are for my future.”
Hands-On Learning in Centennial's Health Informatics Technology Program
Through Centennial College's Digital Health Engineering Technology program, students combine classroom learning with hands-on experience using OpenEMR, while developing skills in programming, healthcare data management and electronic health record systems. Noah says one of the biggest advantages of Centennial College is learning from professors who take a personal interest in their students.
“I've asked my professors numerous times to help me,” she says, “and the difference is that they know my name.”
Although she's only completed two semesters, Noah has already learned industry-standard programming languages.
“I’ve only dipped my toes in the water,” she says. “But I did learn things that I had no prior knowledge of, languages like Python, C#, HTML, JavaScript, Unix and Linux.” She also gained hands-on experience using OpenEMR, a simulated electronic health records (EHR) system used throughout the program.
Still, learning to code from scratch wasn't always easy.
"The most challenging thing is walking into the first day of classes, knowing little to nothing compared to some students who feel like they've been coding since they were born,” she says. “It's intimidating, but by the end of the semester, I know I can do the same thing because I have good professors."
Becoming a Centennial College Student Ambassador
Outside the classroom at Centennial College, Noah has become a Student Ambassador, a role she discovered while browsing opportunities through Experience Centennial.
"I saw a posting for student ambassador,” she says, “and I thought it was a great fit, because I'd volunteered at the hospital for three years and had been a student leader for a service trip to the Philippines."
“I knew I had the voice, I knew I had the heart, and I knew I had the respect to do it,” she says. “So I did it. I got the interview, and I got the job.” Today, she helps prospective students and families navigate campus visits, major college events and their first experiences at Centennial.
“As a student ambassador,” she explains, “my job starts the moment someone walks onto campus for the first time, whether that's a prospective student who's nervous about choosing the right program, or a family visiting. I want to feel like they belong here before they've even applied.”
Whether she's leading campus tours, helping during Orientation or assisting graduates and guests at Convocation, Noah enjoys being part of memorable moments in students' lives.
“I had a blast,” she says. “Convocation was exhausting, but I would do it again. If anyone asked me if they should be a student ambassador, I would definitely tell them to do it.” As the new semester rolls in, her role will expand even further.
“I'm going to shift my role to support new students,” she says, “helping them navigate registration, connect with resources and succeed."
Building Skills Beyond the Classroom
Noah says the communication and problem-solving skills she's developed as a Student Ambassador will directly support her future career in health informatics and healthcare technology.
“Health Informatics is a technical field,” she says, “but at the end of the day, it's about making sure the right information gets to the right person at the right time. That could be a nurse, a doctor, a patient, whoever. Being an ambassador has put me into 100 small little situations where I have to take something complicated, and make it easy for another person. That's no different than what I imagine I'll be doing in health informatics.”
She also appreciates the opportunity to develop skills under pressure.
“It's also giving you real exposure to pressure,” she says. “Convocation and Orientation are very busy, with hundreds of people and tight timelines. If something goes wrong, I have to solve it on the spot. That exposure will matter in healthcare technology.”
Advice for Future Students
After graduation, Noah hopes to begin a career in health informatics or healthcare IT through an internship leading to full-time employment or by continuing her education in health administration. Before that, she has advice for future students.
"My biggest advice,” she says, “is that no matter how shy or nervous you are, just do it. If you want to build real connections, you need to find the courage to speak up, make friends and use your voice."
She also encourages students to stay curious, actively seek opportunities, and take advantage of financial supports.
“Beyond the classroom, keep looking for opportunities,” she continues. “Keep applying, preparing and putting yourself out there on platforms like LinkedIn."“Another thing,” she says, “is to keep looking at scholarships and bursaries. I constantly applied, and it paid off. Two bursaries covered half a semester, and a scholarship covered another semester."
Looking back on the path that brought her to Centennial, Noah feels she's carrying forward something bigger than her own success.
“I feel like a proud daughter,” she says.
By Anthony Geremia