Ilder James Casimiro, MSIC, BSN, DIH, RN, CIC | Safety, Quality, Informatics, and Leadership
Ilder James Casimiro, MSIC, BSN, DIH, RN, CIC, never gives up. As an infection control specialist who was born in the Philippines and spent the last 14 years working in the Middle East, he believes when things don’t go his way, there may simply be another path he is meant to take.
This philosophy serves Casimiro well. Back in 2018, he applied to the Harvard Medical School Postgraduate Medical Education Safety, Quality, Informatics and Leadership program (SQIL), but he was not accepted. He consoled himself with the belief that it simply was not the right time for this opportunity.
“The first denial was a positive redirection,” he says. Therefore, the following year he tried again. This time, to his delight, the timing was right; he was invited to attend.
“When I signed up for the program, I wanted to know more about infection control best practices and I also wanted to strengthen my leadership skills,” he explains. Ultimately, the program taught him all that—and so much more.
In January 2022, he was hired as director of Infection Prevention and Control at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, NY. “It has always been a goal of mine to work in the US,” he stresses. “That why I was continually investing in further education, so I could continue to develop personally and professionally and get opportunities like this one that would provide more long-term stability.”
He credits having Harvard on his resume as key to helping him secure this exciting new job. “Professionally, I believe the Harvard name gave me an edge to land a job here,” he says.
Tracing His Path to Success in the Safety and Quality Field
What he learned at Harvard also built on all of his past work experience, so he feels totally prepared for the responsibilities ahead of him in his new role.
He explains that he is a nurse by training, but his career path began not in a medical facility but rather, working at a foundation for tropical diseases. “At first I was doing some surveillance and also preventing disease there. I didn’t realize starting out that I would ultimately be moving into infection control,” he says.
“But then I transferred to Saudi Arabia and landed a position as an infection control nurse,” he remembers. “They sent me to training and I developed some practices and procedures and started to get a love for this field,” he says. The area of infection prevention and control was growing even before the pandemic, Casimiro says. But COVID-19 really intensified the needs for this specialty.
He was working as an Infection Control practitioner for Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar at the beginning of the COVID surge.
“In this role, I was appointed as a member of the infection control outbreak team to respond to COVID-19. We were commissioning more hospital bed capacity to cater to people who needed more intense care,” he recalls.
Gaining New Knowledge and Opportunities
Despite his very busy schedule working in Qatar, along with his dedication to extracurricular activities such as serving as chairman for the Filipino Badminton Organization, he wanted to further develop his skills and grow to build his career. Therefore, he was always looking for educational options that would supplement his on-the-job experience.
“I found out about SQIL when one of my colleagues posted about participating in it himself. When I saw the Harvard name, I knew the program could help me secure opportunities I might not get on my own,” he stresses.
Casimiro also hoped SQIL would help him build on this own expertise to make him more valuable to the health care field.
“I wanted to know more about quality, strategy and whether the facility is up to date on the latest guidelines; and how to develop an infrastructure for health informatics; and how to develop infection control data that can be turned into knowledge,” he says.
He also met scholars from around the world. “They came from a variety of backgrounds and positions, including health care workers and leaders from all different walks of life.”
His only disappointment was that the program was unable to bring the participants together to meet face-to-face due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“The pandemic made that impossible, but we learned to apply the process of adaptability,” he says.
He also learned time management skills, since scholars from different time zones were challenged to find ways to meet for group projects. “I also learned how to accept constructive criticism from teammates,” he adds.
Perhaps most important, though, is that Casimiro learned to view his own experience from a different lens. Initially, he had worried he might be less accomplished than other participants since he didn’t have an MD, CMO, or CEO in his title. But he quickly realized titles were not everything in this environment; everyone had some value to bring to the table, and the collective experience really enhanced the program’s richness.
“I learned it’s not about the position you hold or what you have achieved in life. It’s really about the process of participation and what you take away from it. In all of these ways, Harvard was a blessing for me,” he reveals.
Embracing New Opportunities
SQIL also opened up doors for him that have been life changing.
“Now I am working in the US and caring for an entire facility. My job is to review overall infection control strategies and do a reassessment to identify challenges and organizational needs,” he says. He also determines the best resources to address infection prevention and control, monitors efforts, complies with state standards, and measures processes and successes.
All of this is what he had hoped for—and more—when he first decided to apply to attend SQIL.
Advice for Others
His advice for others considering the SQIL program is to decide up front on your learning goals and how your participation can help you grow personally and professionally. “Also, ask yourself how what you learn will help you serve others,” he adds.
While he admits that it can be challenging to attend SQIL while working full time, he says the rewards he got in return were well worth the effort he invested. He also points out that a benefit of working and attending SQIL at the same time was that he was able to apply what he was learning in the virtual classroom in the real world through his job. This was the perfect way to practice and build on these skills.
“If you always believe, you can always achieve,” he stresses. He also says that as his example illustrates, if you don’t succeed at something at first, it’s important not to be discouraged but, rather, to try again. “When the time is right, it will happen,” he says.
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Written by Lisa D. Ellis