Taeji Wilken wasn’t planning to change careers.
In 2022, the company she worked for announced it was relocating to Atlanta. Wilken had a choice: move with it or stay close to her family in northwest Iowa and figure out what came next.
She stayed.
Interested in healthcare, she enrolled in a medical coding program at a local college and quickly found she liked the work, particularly inpatient coding. When a former instructor suggested she look into Health Information Management (HIM), Wilken found a field that offered much more than she expected.
“What I especially like is that you aren’t limited to just one of those areas,” she said.
That has become something of a theme in Wilken’s story. One interest led to another. Classes led to hands-on experience. A practicum led to a full-time job. And now, after graduating from EICC's Health Information Management program in summer 2026, she is already building on that degree through the college's Advanced Certificate in Cancer Information Management (CIM).
She still doesn’t have every step mapped out. “Right now, I don't know exactly where it will ultimately take my career, and I'm okay with that.”
Finding a field with room to grow
Wilken initially came to HIM because she wanted to expand her coding skills. As she moved through the program, she learned just how broad the field could be.
HIM professionals work behind the scenes in healthcare, managing the information that connects patient records, coding, billing, compliance, and data.
For Wilken, learning about those different roles opened possibilities rather than forcing her to choose one.
She also needed a program that could fit into a busy life. When she began her EICC classes, she had a newborn son at home.
“It gave me the flexibility to work on assignments when they fit into my schedule, or more realistically, when they fit into my baby’s schedule,” she said.
Because the HIM program is fully online, Wilken could plan school around her family. Some days were devoted entirely to family responsibilities. On others, she spent hours working on assignments while holding her baby.
From assignments to actual patients
The program’s practicum experiences let Wilken see how what she was learning worked outside the classroom.
She completed both of her practicums at Siouxland Mental Health in Sioux City, returning for a second experience so she could build on the skills and relationships she had developed during the first. There, she worked with medical coding, insurance claims, denials, credentialing, and other parts of the revenue cycle.
Wilken also learned quickly that actual healthcare rarely looks as tidy as a textbook example.
Patient records connected the coding and billing rules she had studied to real situations. She researched questions and learned to work through situations when the answer was not immediately clear.
“I also had opportunities to communicate with providers and patients, which helped me understand that there is a real person behind every chart and every claim you’re working on,” she said.
As Wilken became more comfortable navigating Siouxland Mental Health’s electronic health record system, she spent less time figuring out the system and more time using what she knew.
“Instead of feeling like a student completing an assignment, I was using that knowledge to work through real situations in a healthcare setting,” Wilken said.
Her EICC instructors played an important role in helping her get there. She had considered completing her second practicum at a larger health care facility. One of her instructors encouraged her to return to Siouxland Mental Health, believing it was a good fit and seeing an opportunity Wilken had not yet recognized.
She took the advice.
It turned out to matter.
From practicum student to employee
Near the end of Wilken’s practicum, Siouxland Mental Health needed additional help in its billing department and began discussing a temporary position for her.
At the same time, she received an offer for a permanent, full-time job at a hospital.
Wilken wanted to stay at Siouxland Mental Health, but also needed the stability of permanent employment. When she explained the situation, her now-supervisor and the organization’s CFO met with the CEO to discuss whether they could bring her onto the team permanently.
They did.
Siouxland Mental Health combined medical coding and insurance processing responsibilities into one full-time position, allowing Wilken to use the range of skills she had developed through the HIM program and her practicums.
“I wasn’t just being offered a job, I was being given the opportunity to continue working somewhere I already knew I wanted to be,” she said.
Today, Wilken works as a medical coder and insurance processor. She codes medical records, files insurance claims, works through claim rejections and denials, assists with payments and helps with provider credentialing.
The position has also given Wilken something she was looking for when she went back to school: stability, room to grow and a career that could fit alongside family life.
She found much of it sooner than expected. Before she had even finished her degree, she had a full-time position in her field with a good income. Her current job gives her some flexibility in her hours and the ability to work from home when circumstances require it.
“I originally thought some of those things would come later in my career after I had gained more experience," Wilken said.
Another possibility opens
Even as she settles into her new career, Wilken is already exploring where else her education could take her.
During the HIM program, she became increasingly interested in health data and cancer registry work. An instructor told her about EICC's Advanced Certificate in Cancer Information Management.
The field brings together several things that interest Wilken — health care, coding, research and data — while allowing her to build on the HIM education she has already completed.
She is now working toward the CIM certificate while continuing to work full time at Siouxland Mental Health. Wilken is also preparing to take the Registered Health Information Technician certification exam.
She doesn’t know yet whether CIM will become the next direction for her career. For now, that isn’t the point. Each new experience has helped Wilken learn a little more about the work she enjoys, the skills she has and the options available to her.
She started with medical coding. That interest led her to HIM, which led to two practicums, a career she enjoys, and a new interest in CIM.
“I think the biggest thing I would want people to know is that you don’t have to have your entire career figured out before you start," she said.
Students across the U.S. enroll in EICC’s HIM and CIM programs. We have a dedicated staff member who will help you find a practicum placement wherever you are. Email%20Program%20Advisor%20Amy%20Martin%20to%20learn%20more.