Creswell native James Patrick makes his living as an Imaging Informatics Assistant for the ECU Health Medical Center, just one brief stop towards his upcoming foray into the world of Information Technology.
The son of Rena’ and Mitchell Patrick, James grew up in Creswell as the eldest of three siblings.
After graduating from Creswell High School in 2013, Patrick initially decided against the typical college bound route to become a tradesman. To this end, he attended the College of the Albemarle in Edenton where he pursued Electrical Systems Technology.
After finishing up his time at COA, Patrick jumped right into the workforce where he held a number of jobs, including a stint at US Cellular in his hometown.
However after a few years, he decided that it was time to switch gears and look elsewhere for other opportunities.
“After I left COA, I worked around in a few places, odd jobs and the like before I decided to make a move to Greenville,” he says.
Once he was settled into Greenville, Patrick shopped around for a number of positions before a opprotunity at ECU Hospital caught his attention.
“When I got to Greenville, I started browsing around a couple of job websites, you know, seeing what was out there for me. Throwing my lure out there in the ocean to see what I could catch,” he muses.
As far as fishing analogies go, Patrick was successful in being able to reel in something that suited him. As such, in 2023 he got on as one of ECU Health’s imaging informatics assistants.
“For this job in particular, things are ever-changing. At the most basic level, what I do is assist the hospital’s radiologists in retrieving whatever they need as far as imaging goes,” he says. “If one of the doctors or nurses requests an x-ray or an MRI, we reach out to facilities to make that happen and bring them into our system for them.”
Fundamentally, Patrick and others like him occupy a vital but often understated role in helping to manage the day-to-day operations of a medical facility’s imaging systems.
Patrick also mentions that it’s a great opportunity for young people that are looking to build a career in the medical field with a lower barrier of entry...
