No matter where she is in the world, Dr. Darla Branda always finds a community to lean on.
Dr. Branda, who serves as Program Director and Lead Faculty in the Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management program at the University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC), grew up in a military family. Her brother served in the U.S. Air Force, her father served in the U.S. Navy; and her grandfather served in the U.S. Army. At the prompting of her brother, Dr. Branda enlisted as well, joining the U.S. Air Force during her college years. Throughout her military career, she spent time in Texas, New Mexico, and most notably, Iceland, where she worked as a radar operator 12 hours a day in the isolated Rockville Air Station for a yearlong tour.
“I was the one seeing all of the action and being called out and dropping everything and running off to the next thing,” she recalls.
Since there were only about 100 people working on site, Dr. Branda and her cohorts bonded over fighting 24-hour days of sunlight and other harsh working conditions. They often relied on board games and card games during rare days off and leaned on each other when living away from home became difficult.
“We could call home once per month,” she notes. “Homesickness was our biggest challenge. As a result, we became very close friends, Air Force family, and I still stay in touch with some of the wonderful people that I served with in Iceland.”
Despite wanting to pursue other career paths — like a French teacher, which was Branda’s original goal — the Air Force created a professional pathway for her to enter the health care industry. Ultimately, she served for four years, during which time she garnered transferable skills that eventually formed into a career in health information management (HIM) – all while navigating a specialized military involvement.
“In hindsight, those years were quite formative for me, and provided me with so many unique opportunities that do not exist in the civilian world,” she says.
Navigating A Civilian Workforce
Dr. Branda’s first real exposure to health care was while working in an acute care trauma medical center, where she handled both on-site and administrative tasks like coding and billing. She officially entered the field in 1991 after obtaining her second bachelor’s degree, working in a health information management role obtained through an internship.
At the time, the process of storing patient information was completely analog. Paper-based filing and information storage within her physician staff of over 900 people had its challenges, since only one physician could tend to patient records at a time. However, since that era, Dr. Branda has experienced a rapid evolution in the industry’s materials and practices. She has witnessed advancements in everything from patient record storage to remote work, and notes that this is a linear process.
“I have seen many processes and procedures slowly become automated, and many regulations and guidelines have changed significantly,” she says.
While these changes hold their own merit, staying cognizant of the constant flow of improvements is a task in and of itself. Dr. Branda notes that her greatest professional effort, and something her peers can relate to, is simply staying on top of the changes.
“Things constantly change in our field,” she says. “There’s always new technology, and federal guidelines we have to follow change frequently. What we’re doing right now might be phased out completely in a year. It’s evolved.”
A Career Ever-Changing
In the academic world, Dr. Branda, like many of the students she teaches at UAGC, is most proud of completing her degrees (four in total) through nontraditional learning. She was the first person to go to college on her father’s side of the family, completing her first bachelor’s degree over seven years and in between her Air Force commitments.
Dr. Branda earned that degree in health care management through the military, where she took classes between missions. After Iceland, she continued to study while stationed in New Mexico and tending to a newborn baby. She drove to El Paso, TX, three times a week — a collective distance of around 600 miles — to attend classes at the only college with the appropriate classes in that radius. Since her coursework preceded the Internet, Dr. Branda has memories of holding her daughter in her lap and typing her assignments on a typewriter.
“Those were really interesting times,” she says. “That’s why I love working with online students, because I’ve been there, and I know how hard it is. My schooling wasn’t online, but it would have made my life a whole lot easier!”
Later, Dr. Branda looked to nontraditional learning again to finish her two additional degrees, a second bachelor’s degree, this time in health information management, and a master’s degree in higher education, both while working full time as a single mom. Most recently, she completed her doctorate of education in organizational leadership after many years of teaching and with a supportive husband cheering her on.
“I always knew I wanted to teach,” she says. “I love school, so that seemed to be a natural fit for me.”
Branda has been a member of the UAGC faculty since 2022. Ultimately, she finds great satisfaction in working with her students who are looking to enter the industry. She believes guiding students through their academic journey into HIM is her greatest contribution to the field.
“I love connecting with my students and getting to know them on a personal level,” she says. “There is always a way to connect with students, either through similar backgrounds, interests, or experiences. Seeing my students complete their degree and enter the workforce is my ‘why.’”
Finding Adventure Through It All
Naturally, all of her experiences across the world gave her the travel bug. Dr. Branda has traveled to 47 out of the 50 U.S. states, as well as several countries, including her most recent trips to the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, and Italy. She also enjoys hiking, camping, and spending time with her family, friends, and three golden retrievers.
As a proponent of online work, Dr. Branda advises anyone looking to start an education program to seek the help of counselors or academic advisors to facilitate the application process. Another great resource, she notes, is talking to people who are either currently attending college or those who have completed college already. Put simply, finding the right people to help take that first step forward is a crucial part of the process.
“Without online education, there would be a lot of people that simply would not be able to get a degree,” she says. “I was very persistent. It was very important to me … it was just something I wanted to do so strongly for myself, so I found a way.”
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