Strategy and Me ... Yeah, I went there

I think I need a career strategy. 

I always knew I wanted to go into some form of healthcare and help others.  The sixteen year old me thought I wanted to be a doctor.  I believed that it was definitely the only way to be effective in the world of healthcare.  BUT people change, and after three years in undergrad (Go Gators!) I decided I would prefer to go into health law (Pre-Affordable Care act).  I had seen the system fail many people, including my parents.  When I was born, they were in between jobs, and hence, in between insurance.  They paid ten thousand dollars for my birth, and I’m not exaggerating.  I just didn’t understand how the system worked (or that self-pay is an example of cost-shifting).  I knew I wanted to be a part of changing the health laws in this country.  Health care is not a luxury.  It’s a basic tenet of everyone’s needs.

So my mind was made up.  Or was it? ...

After I graduated, I would attend law school, but the more I learned about attorneys, the less I liked the idea of being a lawyer (No offense to my older sister, the attorney).  So I drifted…

For a few years, I worked in something I found fulfilling: elementary education.  It wasn’t my passion, but it satisfied my need to help others.  I taught children how to read and add and subtract.  I helped my community.  I wasn’t happy though because I knew my career would always be in healthcare.  That is what I love.  That is what I should do.

This leads me where I am now, a Healthcare Policy and Management student at Heinz, the perfect marriage of all the other things I’ve mentioned about myself. 

Why do I need a strategy?  Our reading assignments this week made that abundantly clear to me. Well, because I finally made it here and I don’t know what my next step should be.  I also don’t know anyone else working in this sector of Healthcare so I don’t have anyone to sincerely ask for advice or a career path to emulate.  And, finally, I believe it is important to have goals and accomplish them; this is intrinsically related to strategy for me.

So, what strategy should my strategy follow?  “Classical” seems to fit the industry, but I think “Shaping” may be the way the industry is headed, especially with new technology and personalization of care in the horizon. What are the opportunities, challenges and decisions I could potentially face (starting with internship opportunities)?  What are my core values?  Well, that one is kind of easy for me.  The envisioned future part is what I need help with.

I propose to use knowledge gained from this class, from career services, from myself and my research to develop a strategy for my career.  I hope to make this my blog-theme for this semester.  Buckle up and stay tuned…