“Ask an Engineer” with Boris

text "Meet Boris Gladkikh" and a photo of a man in a hoodie looking into the camera

Being an engineer means always solving
new problems and learning new details.

You’ve heard us brag about our talented engineers for long enough–it’s time you finally met one!

Boris Gladkikh, a full-stack engineer who’s been with Health Data Movers for about a year now, is part of dedicated team working on software that HDM designed and maintains for one of our transplant clients. He works on the client-facing front-end, system architecture back-end, database management, and whatever else needs doing.

We asked Boris to tell us what makes a good dev team, and what he likes about ours. Here’s what he said:

  • Communication – with our customers and with each other. We communicate well, which allows us to work well together. As a small team, we’re always building features and working directly with the client. HDM has been mostly remote since it started, so we are comfortable using all the usual remote work tools to stay in touch.
  • Flexibility. it’s nice that everyone on our team can work when and where they are the most productive. But facetime is important, too, and I look forward to resuming some client travel.
  • Ongoing improvements. The team built this program in record time (before I joined), and we are still adding new features and functionality. I get to work on everything from back-end to front-end to database. It’s a great way for me to learn the product in and out with hands-on guidance from senior developers.
  • Always learning. Being an engineer means always solving new problems and learning new details. Healthcare IT has some similarities with other data-intensive applications, but there are also unique aspects to keep in mind, especially for privacy and security. At its core, engineering is problem-solving, and when we solve HIT problems, we can actually improve people’s lives.
  • Growth and meaning. Beyond the fact that I’m always improving my skills, it’s also rewarding to see so much of my own work in action improving performance for our clients. I also get a sense of pride knowing that not only do we deliver what we’ve promised, but we do it ahead of schedule, and that strengthens our client relationship. It’s rewarding for the company and on a personal level to know our clients are happy with our work.
  • The team. I knew that a collaborative, supportive environment was a top priority for me when I interviewed, but I was surprised at how naturally we got along, despite a lot of differences. My first interview included Karla and a couple other team members. Not only were they “my type of weird,” but they also asked me about my personal interests – they’d taken time to review my application materials and knew to ask me about my love for old-school synthesizers.

Boris says he’s grown a lot as an engineer since joining HDM and looks forward to continuing to improve. We love his combination of creativity and grit, and we look forward to seeing what he’ll help our clients do next.

If you want to learn more about our Engineering team, read this profile of our Director of Engineering. If you want to join our Engineering team, hit us up on LinkedIn.