Student: Fernando Chivela

Growing up in Angola — a country on Africa’s west coast beset by civil war, poverty and preventable diseases — has inspired Fernando Chivela to use technology to improve access to quality health care in rural areas.

“I chose this career because underserved communities need and deserve sustainable health care systems that are technologically advanced,” Chivela said. “Creating these systems requires health informatics professionals familiar with the challenges of providing health care to underserved rural populations.”

Chivela is a second-year graduate student in the health informatics and information management program in East Carolina University’s College of Allied Health Sciences. The interdisciplinary program is designed to train professionals on how to acquire, store and use information, working as part of a health care team with clinicians and administrators.

“I chose ECU because of its mission to deliver improved health care to those living in rural communities,” he said. “ECU has been instrumental in helping me achieve my goals because of its unique academic curriculum in allied health sciences with hands-on experience and a broad clinical network with extensive rural service areas.”

One of Chivela’s off-campus experiences has been as a health care customer associate assisting Medicaid and Medicare clients.

“While helping insured individuals with their inquiries was an emotionally taxing and mentally challenging task, as one who gave every client my very best, I learned most profoundly how crucial health insurance and health literacy are to people’s well-being,” Chivela said. “This experience was invaluable to me and sparked my interest in patient empowerment and chronic disease research.”

On campus, Chivela has worked on several research projects with Dr. Ashley E. Burch, his assistantship supervisor, including one aimed at engaging patients with chronic diseases who live in rural communities.

“As an international student, education has been the gateway to my dreams,” he said. “My assistantship experiences and my educational opportunity here at ECU have allowed me to work with faculty researching rural populations, contribute to the clinical literature and support local medical professionals using cutting-edge data analysis techniques.”

This year, Chivela received the Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions Scholarship of Excellence, which recognizes academic success and leadership potential.

Fernando Chivela works on his laptop in the health sciences student center.

“Being recognized among the outstanding allied health students in the United States reminds me of the exceptional benefits of being on a path that allows me to follow my passion and inspires me to strive for excellence in my education and future career,” he said.

After graduation, Chivela said he will participate in optional practical training in health informatics to complement his master’s degree.

“My ECU education and assistantship experiences have prepared me for a health care role serving rural communities, and I am eager to translate my academic success into the opportunities and challenges awaiting me after graduation,” he said.

Dream job: Health informatics coordinator

What advice do you have for other students? Explore the topics and subjects that interest you, and do not be hesitant to really delve in and ask for help when you need it. As an international student, the ability to ask for help and take advantage of our campuses’ resources has benefited me immensely through my time at ECU. It should enrich your Pirate journey as well.

What is something cool about ECU that you wish you knew during your first year?
One of the most exciting things about ECU that I wish I knew during my first year is the research support offered by our campuses’ libraries. Our librarians go above and beyond in serving our campus population, and I was impressed by their services, including grant funding support, data management planning, digital scholarship guidance and systematic review services.