RESOURCES

From Healthcare to Tech: Resources That Helped Me Build

I'm a healthcare professional learning to build technology solutions. This guide shares the certifications, frameworks, and communities that helped me transition, in case you're on a similar path.

My background: Social work and healthcare coordination, now building solutions on Power Platform. I'm still learning, but these resources gave me a solid foundation.

Skills That Transfer (Better Than You Think)

• Care coordination → Project delivery and stakeholder management
• Clinical documentation → Data governance and compliance frameworks
• Interdisciplinary collaboration → Cross-functional team coordination
• Crisis response → Risk assessment and incident management

What I learned: Technical skills are teachable. Understanding how vulnerable populations interact with systems—that's the hard part you already have.

Technical Foundation

Getting Started with Power Platform

• PL-900: Power Platform Fundamentals - Industry-recognized foundation credential
• App in a Day Workshop - Hands-on learning, build your first app
• Power Platform Community - Active forums where builders help each other

What worked for me: I certified, then immediately built something small for a real problem I'd seen in healthcare. Theory clicked when I had context.

Governance & Security

• KiNS Training Modules - Norwegian public sector information security (Modules 1, 5, 6, 8)
• Center of Excellence Starter Kit — Microsoft's governance framework
• GDPR for Developers — Practical compliance guidance

Why this matters: Healthcare and social services data requires responsible handling. Governance isn't optional — it's foundational.

Advanced Credentials

• Applied Skills: Create and Manage Canvas Apps
• Applied Skills: Create Agents in Copilot Studio
• PL-200: Power Platform Functional Consultant

Resources I Return To

On Building Better Digital Health Solutions

• The Digital Doctor by Robert Wachter — Essential reading on why healthcare IT is complex
• Mismatch by Kat Holmes — How exclusion happens through design choices
• Microsoft Inclusive Design Toolkit — Practical frameworks for accessibility

On Ethics and Compliance

• UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities — Legal foundation
• Helsedirektoratet Guidelines — Norwegian healthcare regulations (Chapter 9)

Digital Inclusion Checklist

Before launching any solution, I ask:

• Can someone with limited digital literacy navigate this independently?
• Does it function properly with screen readers?
• Is it available in the languages your users speak?
• Does it work offline or with unstable connectivity?
• Have you tested with users from your target population?

Communities That Support This Work

• Women in Power Platform — Cohort 4; mentorship and learning
• Microsoft Power Up Program — Cohort 28; structured projects
• Power Platform Forums — Rapid peer-to-peer troubleshooting

Always Learning. Happy to Connect.

I'm not an expert—I'm sharing what helps me build functional, compliant solutions while transitioning careers.

Questions or resources to add?

sylvia.wangaa@gmail.com