A Kennesaw State student in the Master of Science in Healthcare Management and Informatics program received the 2019 Richard P. Covert Scholarship for Management Systems during the week of Feb. 10.
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society presented Fortune Onwuzuruike with the distinguished scholarship at their Global Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Florida. Onwuzuruike, the son of Nigerian immigrants, earned one of the four scholarships awarded nationally each year by the HIMSS Foundation.
In addition to this $5,000 scholarship award, Onwuzuruike received complimentary admission to the Global Conference and Exhibition which featured 45,000 attendees, 1,300 vendors and 300 educational sessions, according to the HIMSS website. Onwuzuruike said he was able to make connections and network with companies such as IBM, KPMG and Optum.
“To be able to represent Kennesaw State on a national level in comparison to some of these big schools — it just really speaks to the volume of our professors and how they prep you and show that you are a qualified student,” Onwuzuruike said. “It was really overwhelming that, me, a student from Kennesaw State, can have just as good of a shot as anybody to win that scholarship.”
Onwuzuruike graduated from Georgia State University in 2017 and began working as an associate security analyst for WellStar Health. In 2018, he enrolled in the Michael J. Coles College of Business’ MSHMI program.
Onwuzuruike said that he almost pursued a degree in computer information systems, but his mother, with her nursing background, helped him develop an interest in the healthcare industry and in particular, health informatics.
“They always pushed me to strive for the best and strive for excellence in our household,” Onwuzuruike said. “Education is the most powerful tool and weapon that you have in the entire world.”
He added that studying health informatics allowed him to satisfy his interest in technology and computers while supporting his admiration for healthcare workers.
Onwuzuruike talked about how he recently came back from a trip to Nigeria about two months ago, and upon arriving in the United States, he realized how fortunate he is to have so many opportunities. He added that there are many people in Nigeria who would be grateful for the opportunity to pursue an associate’s degree or even a high school diploma.
“Take advantage of all the opportunities,” Onwuzuruike said. “Go get your bachelor’s, go get your master’s, go be a lawyer, go be a nurse, whatever the case may be, just strive for excellence in everything that you do.”
Onwuzuruike is now working as an information security analyst for Piedmont Healthcare. His long term goal is to go back to school to pursue a doctorate so he can teach and inspire the future generations of healthcare informatics professionals.
“Later on in life, I plan to be a professor, to give back to the future leaders, like my professors did for me,” Onwuzuruike said.
