Teaching

Shaping futures, igniting minds

Senior university faculty in Abu Dhabi since 2023, preparing the next generation of health information professionals.

Teaching Philosophy

Confident, capable problem solvers

Information systems exist to solve real problems for real people. My job is to give students the foundations, the judgment, and the confidence to do exactly that. I teach at the point where clinical practice, technology, and communication meet, and I want every student to leave able to turn a messy, real-world problem into a working, trustworthy solution.

Strong foundations make strong problem solvers. Programming, databases, networks, hardware, and software are the ground we stand on; a clear, systematic model of the information process is where we are headed. No student is equally strong in every area, and no real system relies on only one, so I spend as much time on how the pieces fit together as on any single skill. The goal is always a complete solution, not an isolated technique.

Rhetoric is part of that foundation. I define rhetorical literacy as the ability to read a communication situation and choose the most effective way to respond to it, and it runs through every course I teach. Students analyze their audience, purpose, and message, then decide how genre, language, tone, and even layout shape how that message lands. In a field where an engineer has to explain a technical decision to a clinician, an executive, or a patient, communication is not a soft skill. It is the work.

I ask students to ground their thinking in mathematics, because a solid grasp of it deepens their appreciation for the logic behind good programming and data design. I also build assignments around genuine problems rather than textbook exercises. Especially online, I lean on discovery learning: students synthesize information, extend concepts on their own, and learn through guided trial and error. It builds not only skill but the self-confidence to keep going when a problem does not solve on the first try.

Finally, I keep one foot in industry. More than two decades of building healthcare systems, along with regular industry sabbaticals, let me bring real implementations, current standards, and honest lessons from the field into the classroom. That connection between practice and theory is what keeps a course relevant and helps students graduate ready for the work that is actually waiting for them.

Since 2023 · Abu Dhabi

“The power of passionate teaching: someone who is dedicated and enthusiastic can change what students believe they are capable of.”

In the classroom

What I want every student to leave with

Four commitments that shape how I design a course, run a classroom, and measure whether it worked.

I have spent my career connecting healthcare systems and, for more than two decades, teaching the people who will run them. Both roles rest on one belief: technology only helps people when someone understands it deeply enough to make it dependable. That belief shapes everything I teach.

Teach the system, not just the syllabus

I anchor every concept to how real healthcare systems behave in production. Students do not just learn what an HL7 message or a database schema is; they learn how it fails, how it is fixed, and why it matters when a patient's data has to move safely between systems.

Curiosity that outlasts the exam

Content changes; the habit of learning does not. My aim is to leave students confident, capable, and genuinely curious, so they can teach themselves the next tool, standard, or technology long after the course ends.

Learning by building

People learn technology by using it. My courses are built around real messages, real schemas, and real integration problems, so students practice the actual work of the field instead of memorizing it for a test.

Integrity in the age of AI

New tools are powerful, but they do not replace thinking. I teach students to use AI and other technologies honestly and critically, to verify what they produce, and to take responsibility for their own work.

Courses taught

Sixteen courses, three tracks

From Python and SQL to informatics, coding compliance, and healthcare finance.

Programming & Data

Introduction to Programming & Health Data Standards

Fundamental programming concepts and health data standards using Python: data types, control structures, functions, and the libraries used in health information management.

Intermediate Programming

Object-oriented programming, data structures, algorithms, database integration, and healthcare data processing in Python, practiced on real-world health data scenarios.

Health Database Systems

Querying healthcare data with SQL: from basic queries to complex healthcare use-cases, with hands-on exploration of data pertinent to the healthcare industry.

Health Database Design and Administration

Database design, data modeling, and normalization, transforming healthcare business requirements into schemas that store information efficiently.

Database Concepts

The fundamental principles of designing, implementing, and managing databases: data models, database design, normalization, and indexing.

Health Informatics

Introduction to Health Information Systems

A foundational look at the technologies healthcare organizations use to manage patient information, improve clinical workflows, and enhance quality of care.

Health Informatics II

Strategic planning, analysis, design, selection, and implementation of health information systems, with assessment and evaluation of e-health applications.

Introduction to HL7

A comprehensive introduction to the Health Level Seven international standards for exchanging clinical and administrative data between healthcare systems.

Nursing Informatics

An interdisciplinary course integrating nursing science, computer science, and information science, equipping nurses to use health IT to improve patient outcomes.

Healthcare Informatics & Data Analytics

How to analyze and interpret healthcare data to drive improvements in patient care and operational efficiency, for clinicians, analysts, and IT specialists.

System Life Cycle

The stages of developing, implementing, and maintaining information systems: from planning and analysis to design, implementation, and evaluation.

HIM Practice & Management

Health Information Coding IV

The coding function through health information technology: revenue cycle management, the HIM professional's role, and building a coding compliance program to national and international standards.

Finance Management in Healthcare

Accounting systems and controls in healthcare: the accounting cycle, financial statements, budgeting, cost accounting, and decision making for cost control.

Health Care Economics and Health Insurance

Economic analysis of the healthcare market: insurance industry drivers, cost-control models, case-mix funding, managed care, and the ethics of new funding models globally.

Strategic Management in Health Care

Strategic planning and forecasting, marketing, benchmarking, quality improvement, and process re-engineering, applied to real departmental strategic plans.

Capstone Research Project for Health Sciences

End-to-end supervised research: literature review, ethical review, methodology, data collection and analysis, and a final capstone report and presentation.

Sponsor

Technology Learning Hub

The colorful way to learn technology

105 illustrated, run-and-proven books on Python, SQL, ICD-10 and health IT: instant PDF downloads for healthcare and technology learners.

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