Healthcare is one of the largest and most important industries in the world. Without the millions of people who work across research centers, academia, hospitals, and clinics, the world would be a far less safe place to live – something that’s been brought to our attention during the pandemic. Every professional in the healthcare industry matters, and it’s in everyone’s interests for practitioners to continue learning, earning promotions and seniority as they do so. This article’s about how you can progress your own career within the healthcare industry – through learning and by seizing educational opportunities when they arise.
Mentors
One of the most nourishing forms of education that anyone in the healthcare field can find is a senior mentor. Whether that’s the head nurse on your ward or a professor in your research unit, a more senior colleague can help you to learn and understand parts of your job that no book can teach you. They have experience in finding efficient ways to perform tasks and more professional ways to operate.
If you’re struggling to find a mentor in your current role, it may be worth asking a senior colleague if they might be interested in teaching you some of their wisdom. You could also approach a line manager in order to tell them that you’re looking for on-the-job learning opportunities. They may be able to link you up with someone in a formal arrangement or in an arrangement that suits your skillset.
Training
As well as working under a mentor, you can also access training as a junior employee right through to your more senior days as an industry professional working in healthcare. This is something that some facilities will offer from time to time on a formal basis. Other institutions might need more of a nudge, which you should feel comfortable to provide to line managers. Ask them if there’s a possibility of accessing learning opportunities that might progress your career.
The benefits of learning on the job via training sessions are clear. For one, your education will come during your work hours, which means you don’t have to set aside any time in order to get yourself trying up in a new skill. It’s also free, which means you won’t have to spend a penny – and in fact, you’ll be earning – during your training. Finally, your training will be specific to exactly what your ward or facility thinks it’s most valuable for you to know, which is perfect for those ambitious to progress their careers.
University
The world of academia is always waiting in the wings if you’re interested in progressing your career through a new certification or qualification. There are several jobs in healthcare that actually require you to have a degree in a certain subject and several senior roles that will expect you to have a higher degree or a doctorate in a given field. It’s only by heading back to university that you can achieve these and give yourself a good chance of securing more and more senior roles.
If you’re looking to make the step from porter to nurse, for instance, you’ll have to go to university to get the required qualification. If you’re a nurse looking to progress in your career, you may well need to go back to university to receive a higher degree or a conversion into the field in which you’d like to work. Earn a DNP degree online in order to get to the next stage in your nursing degree, learning more complex roles and jobs that should entitle you to a promotion to a more senior position in the future.
Lectures
If you’re not necessarily interested in reinterring university, you can still access some of the resources that university students enjoy – and often for free. While there are lecture series online that you will have to pay for, a quick look on YouTube will reveal hundreds of thousands of relevant videos in the healthcare field that have been published for anyone to watch, make notes about, and ultimately, learn from.
You may also be able to attend some lectures in person, if you live near a study institution and you’re able to get into the lecture hall for free. Finally, you should always keep an eye out for live online lectures, which are taking place every day across the world and are usually conducted via a video link that is shared on institutional pages. To have a better chance of spotting these opportunities, consider signing up to newsletters that will alert you to the next upcoming video sessions on the topics you’re most interested in.
Online Courses
More involved than a lecture series and often free also are the online courses that are so popular in today’s world. They’re not full university degrees, but they operate more like electives within a course at university. Each course is like a module that will guide you through a specific area of healthcare – and you’ll be free to do these within a week or over several months, depending on your time commitment and your responsibilities at work. Searching for these online courses is easy – you’ll just need to key in some keywords into Google to have many of them revealed to you.
Some online courses ask you to pay in order to conduct them. These are usually the courses that give you access to tutors who will respond to your questions and emails, or those that give you a certificate at the conclusion of your course. These paid options are often the most valuable, as they can show evidence of your learning as well as give you more scholarly attention from tutors and mentors. Finally, courses conducted online give you the chance to meet other students from whom you can learn – or people you can simply count as friends in the future.
Night Classes
The healthcare field is a wide one, and there are often extra skills that you can bring to the table from outside the world of hospitals and clinics. A great example of this is learning a new language – something that can be invaluable if you’re working on wards that serve, say, a large Hispanic community. Heading to night classes in order to slowly pick up Spanish is a superb way in which to show your bosses that you’re serious about providing a higher and more professional level of care to your patients. It’s also a great way to develop as an individual and learn from the world and the people around you.
Night classes cost money, and you’ll be expected to go regularly to complete your course. That means that individuals who cannot predict their working hours or who may well miss a couple of classes are probably not best suited to taking night classes. Instead, they should search online options that can be just as helpful, but you can take flexibly and often without the pressure of a live tutor sitting you down with tasks.
Apps
Now we come on to educational apps – the kinds that can teach you a new language, or which prompt you to learn a new fact about your field every day. There are literally thousands of these apps available on the app store. You’ll know of the most famous ones, but you may well benefit from a more in-depth search to find the app that really suits your interests and your curiosities.
When you’re considering downloading an app, especially one that costs money to download, first do a little research. Read the reviews to check whether there’s anything people have complained about before. Also read online articles that discuss the pros and cons of the app you’re considering. That way, you’ll avoid wasting time with apps that are poorly developed and might have no educational benefits for you and your healthcare career at all.
Private Reading
As well as all of the resources listed above, there are of course long lists of books set in the healthcare space that can be both inspiring and educational in equal measure. Among them are books by medical practitioners about the work they’ve performed over their career, textbooks that detail a specific part of the medical field that you’d like to learn more about, and other leadership books that will give you the skills and the confidence you need to apply for more senior roles and one day earn a promotion.
All of these books can be found in online stores or in specific bookshops that cater towards a healthcare audience. You can ask colleagues if you’re stuck for your next read – many will have book recommendations that will knock your socks off and will teach you far more than an online course might. Try to find a book that’s engaging and fun as well as interesting and educational, and you’ll quickly learn some new skills and knowledge when you take that book for your lunch break or into bed before you go to sleep.
Podcasts
If you’re not a huge reader but you still like the sound of learning new things in your own time, you can instead look for podcasts in the healthcare field. The beauty of these is that you can listen to them on the go: when you’re heading into work or you’re on your way home, when you’re cooking dinner, and even when you’re working out in the gym. You don’t need to be steadily reading a book on the train – you can be listening to it while you do your other daily tasks. This is a popular way for people to learn in the present day.
If you’re listening to a purely educational podcast, it’s worth considering taking with you a way to make quick notes as you listen, which will help with memory retention. Otherwise, it’s important that you’re able to listen clearly and concentrate on what you’re being told in order for the podcast to be remembered and the lessons contained within it to have some impact on the level of care or service you’re providing in the healthcare space. Search for these excellent podcasts online or ask colleagues for their own recommendations.
Job Change
If you feel that you’re stuck in something of a rut in your career, there’s always the option to change your role and move to a new institution. Just by virtue of leaving a role you’ve been in for some years, you’ll find that you’re challenged in new ways and exposed to new tasks that will help round you out as an individual with a great deal of experience in multiple topic and task areas. As you move jobs, you’ll also meet a new set of colleagues who are also a huge new reservoir of knowledge. You may well find a new tutor or mentor in your new role – someone who’s more than happy to take you under their wing and to show you best practice in your area.
Changing jobs is exciting, too. You may well get a pay rise, or you may be given access to learning opportunities that you were shut out from in your previous role. You may well meet people who can show you new books and podcasts that will health you learn faster. You’ll be more switched on, leaving that feeling of being struck in a rut far in the past. So, if your career feels like it’s stagnating, and you’re unsure whether you’ll earn a promotion any time soon from your current role, you should remain ambitious and begin looking for exciting jobs elsewhere. They’ll teach you more than if you were to stay put.
All of these educational opportunities can help healthcare professionals to learn new skills, attain new competencies, and ultimately provide a better service to patients. If you’re ambitious and are looking to progress your career, education is often the best tool you have to impress your managers and to get noticed for the great job you’re doing. So, the above advice on educational opportunities will help you to do just that, progressing in your career through education and learning.
