Healthcare

I worked in healthcare for nine years, and I had seen changes that were negatively impacting healthcare workers and patients that I would not be able to change from the treatment level. Physical therapy is a physically demanding job, and one that I knew I would not be able to do forever. I did not feel that I would have enjoyed or would have been secure in the outpatient setting. I had minored in business during my undergraduate years, and I really enjoyed it.

I felt like it was hard to communicate to my team that I was leaving. It was also hard to communicate to the business world why I wanted to pivot. There are several soft skills that are incredibly important in the business world that are overlooked. I feel like candidates pivoting from healthcare have to be explicit with what their skills are and how they are relevant.

I am deeply passionate about maintaining a healthy nervous system. If we wanted to build a working environment that was healthy for people from a neuroscientific perspective, we wouldn't have built the business world that exists today. I am passionate about seeing environment change so that people can more effectively use their brains.

I don't think so. I think that the world of healthcare is diverse enough that it would be hard to find one class that would help with that transition. 

I think the ability to collaborate, to anticipate pain points in a process, having emotional intelligence and empathy, and understanding motivation are all very helpful and very transferable skills from being a physical therapist.

I wish I had learned more about operations management before I started my MBA. It sounds Interesting.

I am slowly but steadily building a network. After spending nine years in my profession and having lived through healthy and unhealthy seasons, I am aiming at moving into this season quickly, but in a way that maintains my health. I also don't want things to move by so fast that I miss what is going on.

I am exploring many different industries and avenues because my interests are varied and because maintaining my health while I pursue this career change is very important to me. I am focused more on strategy, data, and finance because those areas interest me.

I assume I will be able to find a place to bring neuroscience into whatever I do. I know that as a woman, the bar for my competence is higher and that for me to earn the right to speak on the issues that I care about, or industry standards that I believe need to change, I must be able to demonstrate considerable proficiency in that area. 

Find people in many areas of the business world and ask them questions about their roles and experiences. The business world is bigger and more varied than the medical world, and it can be harder to find the exact area that you might be interested. But there is a place that will be the best fit for you.

I spoke with friends and family members in the business world as I was beginning my journey. I also read a lot. I really enjoyed the following books:

• “The Infinite Game” by Simon Sinek  
• “The Originals” by Adam Grant 
• “Same as Ever” and “Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel 
• “Grit” by Angela Duckworth

I think that hospitals are going to have to find more consistent means of getting paid. Understandably, hospitals cannot penalize people for incurring massive debts for health care in the way that almost any other industry can. There are not consequences for paying hospital bills in the same way that there are for not paying every other kind of bill.  

Every year, insurance companies reimburse less which strains the system. Costs are cut by reducing the number of staff. Healthcare workers are overwhelmed, understaffed; there has been a mass exodus because of the lack of support in the system. There has been a massive brain drain in the healthcare world, and we have lost a ton of the mentorship and the time that we used to have on cases.