Volunteering Brings Satisfaction, Fulfillment with Helping Others

In recognition of National Volunteer Week, which runs through April 26, the Journal of AHIMA spoke with Tyrel Guerrero, MBA, RHIA, about the value of volunteering for health information (HI) component associations. Guerrero is president of the Texas Health Information Management Association (TxHIMA) and co-chair of the Membership Committee for AHIMA.

Question: How did you first get involved in volunteering in health information?

Answer: It originally started when I was in college. My college professors encouraged all the students to get involved with the local associations. The message that I learned was change starts on every level. So, I went to a TxHIMA convention for the first time as a volunteer. I really enjoyed it. I got to network there and learn the ropes. Then I honed in locally to understand the basics.

Q: Where did your volunteer efforts go from there?

A: At one of my previous jobs, my boss encouraged us to go to the AHIMA conference and they sponsored us going. It was there that someone approached me and said, ‘Why don't you join an AHIMA committee?’ I didn’t really know about how that worked or if I was worthy. But I realized there's so much opportunity to volunteer. Shortly after that, I joined an AHIMA committee and eventually ran for president of TxHIMA.

Q: What opportunities are there for students to get involved?

A: For our annual conference in June, we're sponsoring students to come to volunteer at our event and this year, we are paying for 13 students to volunteer. And next year, we want to get more as we have more growth. But we're paying for their hotel rooms and the event itself. At the conference, we will connect and engage them with leaders and vendors who come to the event. We communicate with all the educators in Texas and say, ‘Here are the opportunities that we have for students’ because we want them to be engaged. We want them to get involved.

Q: What advice would you give to HI staffers who might be interested in volunteering for an HI association?

A: The beauty of volunteering is that you can set the pace of how much you want to give. We have a volunteer now who helps us with our marketing. We'll tell her there are a few things that we would love to have her do. ‘Tell us what you can pick up. Tell us what you can't.’ Since it’s her time, she'll find time on her schedule. So, there's not a set time when you have to come to a meeting or do these things. If you want to do something and you only have limited time to volunteer, we’ll find the right task that you can do. Volunteers also help us in the virtual space, like emailing people and communications. There are so many one-off pieces and functions that you don’t have to be present at a meeting, and that helps build the whole foundation of what we’re doing.

Q: What would you say to someone who might want to volunteer but questions how much impact they would have?

A: Even if you're thinking about doing something and you feel it's very minor, those minor things contribute to the core of what that organization is. There’s no volunteer opportunity too little or small, and there’s no task, little or small, that we can't use help with. I would say if you're nervous, ask anybody at any convention, or your local leaders. There are so many of us out there. There's a spot for you in every component association.

Q: Would you like to mention anything else about the value of volunteering for a component association?

A: People assume because you're a national, state, or even local organization, that we have all the volunteers we need. Move that assumption aside and get involved at your component association. There's so much opportunity. We need volunteers in many different capacities. We're trying to give back as much as we can to our members, and we're trying to give back as much experience as we can to those in the field.