Career progression is a natural goal to have – especially in the healthcare industry.
Whether you’re a nurse, occupational therapist, or doctor, there are lots of exciting roles you can advance to as you get older. Not only will these roles provide you with greater career satisfaction, but they will also help to boost your salary, too.
In an age where job markets are competitive, and billions of people are dependent on healthcare, there’s never been a better time in history to set your eyes on new career targets.
Over the past few years, you might have even noticed some of your colleagues earn promotions or switch to different companies, all due to them having high levels of ambition. Here’s the good news: you can do it as well.
So, where should you begin?
As a helping hand, this guide for healthcare professionals is going to detail all the different ways you can advance your career and experience more success.
Whenever you’re ready, let’s begin the guide.
1. Earn an Executive Master of Health Administration
Right now, one of the best steps you can take in your career is to earn an Executive Master of Health Administration Canada. Here’s why:
- Develop your management and team-leading ability
- Boost your healthcare, IT, and business knowledge
- Make your résumé stand out from other candidates
What Roles Can an Executive Master of Health Administration Lead To?
An Executive Master of Health Administration can lead to tons of exciting roles, including:
- Healthcare Practice Administrator
- Medical and Health Services Manager
- Program Manager
- Medical Staff Analyst
- General Operations Manager
Typically, these roles pay very well. For example, as a healthcare practice administrator, you can expect to earn $88,324 per year on average. This is an excellent salary to have as a healthcare worker.
It’s important to draw attention to the fact that modern healthcare has changed a lot since 2020. Now, more healthcare practices are searching for health administrators with the right knowledge and experience to lead them to positive results – and a master’s degree is the perfect starting point.
Many people in the healthcare industry assume that their bachelor’s degrees are enough to last them forever. However, the healthcare graduate market – such as the medicine and nursing fields – is becoming more saturated than ever before. This means that master’s degrees are becoming the next big thing and will certainly be the catalyst behind future education!
If you’re already a professional working full-time within the healthcare industry, you’ll still have time to study due to the remote aspect of many modern-day master’s degrees. They allow students to study in the evening or spare hours they have during the day, which makes life much easier for them.
So, if you have the ambition and drive to progress through your career, then it’s highly recommended you consider studying a master’s degree.
Are Master’s Degrees Worth It?
Yes – master’s degrees are more than worth it for boosting your career prospects.
- You can develop your personality
- Gain access to networking opportunities
- Study remotely from home (depending on the course you choose)
- Gain access to higher earning roles
- And much more
Plus, the tuition fees for master’s degrees are usually much less than bachelor’s fees, which means you don’t need to worry about doubling your existing student loans.
For more information on starting a master’s degree, make sure to directly contact the universities you’re interested in. They will be able to provide you with more information, from term dates to program costs.
2. Enroll in Training Courses
Don’t have time for master’s degree? No problem – you can enroll on online training courses instead.
Nowadays, there are lots of online training programs for healthcare professionals that want to develop specific skills. Usually, these programs will require an enrollment fee, but the pay-off is usually more than worth it in the end.
It’s now become very popular for healthcare professionals to gain certification in Cybersecurity and Information Security, primarily due to the fact that healthcare is going digital. Now, millions of people are speaking to their doctors and healthcare advisors via video and phone calls rather than in-person, which has led to many non-tech-savvy professionals having to up their knowledge. After all, you won’t be able to succeed in the world of telehealth without having the correct IT training!
Of course, there are plenty of other training courses you can study online, including:
- Mental Health Training
- Documentation and Record-Keeping
- COVID-19 Awareness
- Complaint Handling
- Food Hygiene and Handling
These types of online programs are excellent tools for career progression and gaining access to new roles within the industry. Best of all, a lot of courses can be completed in a matter of weeks, so you don’t need to dedicate months of your life to the certification.
Of course, some training courses are seen as more valuable than others. For example, in 2022, many hospitals and healthcare practices would like to see that applicants have specialist training surrounding COVID-19, from vaccines to how they can be prevented from spreading. This is why most nurses, as well as other frontline workers, have enrolled in COVID-19 training courses.
The training courses you choose should fall in life with your career goals, which this guide will discuss next.
3. Decide Your New Career Goals
If you know that you want to advance your healthcare career but aren’t sure exactly where you want to go, then it’s important to take some time and decide on your new career goals.
For example, let’s say that you’re a nurse who works in a public hospital. You’ve worked in the hospital for ten years and have now decided that you want a fresh change – which is completely understandable. As a new career goal, you could decide that you want to become a concierge nurse instead. A concierge nurse is a nurse that is usually self-employed; providing care to patients on a subscription-based plan. This typically involves traveling to see patients in their homes, where you can:
- Give advice
- Treat wounds and other problems
- Provide medical escorts (such as if a patient needs to travel to another city but can’t go without a medical professional with them)
Remember, career progression in healthcare isn’t just limited to nurses. No matter what role you’re in, there’s always something higher that you can look to attain.
Don’t be afraid to set extremely ambitious career goals, as they will help to motivate you over the coming months and years. The bigger the goals, the better – even if they seem outlandish, to begin with.
4. Search Online for Leadership Roles
As mentioned earlier, leadership roles are some of the best to aim for if you’re looking to advance your career forward. To find these leadership roles, here’s where to look:
- Indeed
- Hospital and healthcare practice websites for direct openings
- Healthcare career websites
When you find leadership roles that appeal to you, make sure to apply with professional cover letters to show potential employers that you care about the position that’s available.
Within your cover letters, you should draw attention to your main experience in the healthcare industry as well as your achievements in education (bachelor’s degree, master’s degree). There should also be a focus on your key skills and characteristics to demonstrate what you’re like as a person, too.
After finding leadership roles that you’re interested in, make sure to use one or two of your existing work colleagues to provide references for you. This is so that you can show your potential new employer that you can be trusted in a leadership role.
5. Find a Mentor
If you ask any successful figure in healthcare how they made it to where they are, most of them will tell you that they had a mentor along the way. After all, the healthcare industry can be tough at times, which is why it’s so important to have a wise figure you can turn to for advice whenever you need it.
To find a mentor, you should look to higher-up colleagues within your company or establishment. By forming a positive relationship with them, you can then use them as a model for your own career progression.
If you can find a mentor who is already in an existing management or leadership role, even better.
6. Consider Moving Cities or Countries
In order to unlock the best possible career opportunities in healthcare, it’s a good idea to move locations.
The U.S., Europe, and Asia are all excellent destinations for healthcare job openings. For example, the U.K. is home to the National Health Service (NHS), which is widely regarded as one of the best modern-day healthcare systems today.
If you’re a nurse in the U.S., you could easily work in another country – such as England – if you wished to do so. This is commonly referred to as ‘international travel nursing’. According to The World Health Organization (WHO), one in eight nurses works in a country that’s different from their native one, which highlights this. Nurses have a variety of different reasons for working abroad, such as to be closer to their partners or due to a shortage of nurses in that specific country, so your reason will be totally unique to you.
Remember, moving to another country doesn’t mean you have to work there forever. Many healthcare professionals work in other countries for 6 months to a year before moving back home. Not only is it great for professional development, but it’s also great for your personal development, too. This is because you will be working up-close with patients from different cultures, which will help to grow your perspective and build a stronger character.
7. Listen Carefully to Patient Feedback
If you work out on the frontline and are dealing with patients day-to-day, whether you’re a doctor or pharmacist, it’s important to listen to any feedback that patients give you. This way, you can make improvements to how you approach customer care and problems in the future.
Remember, even the most established of healthcare professionals – such as doctors who’ve been active for over 30 years – are still learning every day. That’s the magic of the healthcare industry: there’s always room for improvement, no matter what level you’re at.
In your annual work appraisals, you will also be able to discuss feedback with your management team. They’ll be able to advise you on key areas they want to see you improve – such as face-to-face communication with patients – which you can then take on board and put into practice.
Remember, feedback in healthcare isn’t always positive, especially when you move higher up the ranks. However, this is nothing to be worried about, as feedback is designed to help you grow and improve when you’re out in the field.
8. Find a Healthy Work-Life Balance
In the world of healthcare, it’s all too easy for professionals to work themselves into the ground. This is especially true for nurses and doctors on the frontline, who have to deal with pressure from all angles.
It’s because of this reason that a healthy work-life balance is so important. Without it, you’ll struggle to cope with the demands of career progression.
To find a healthy work-life balance, you’ll need to find the right balance regarding your hours. For example, if you’re a nurse, you should switch today’s shifts if night shifts are proving to be too exhausting for you.
When you find the perfect work-life balance, you’ll then be physically and mentally prepared to progress into better healthcare roles!
Final Thoughts
This guide for healthcare professionals has covered everything you need to know regarding career advancement, from studying for a master’s degree to searching different cities and countries for exciting new roles.
Make sure to put the above-mentioned tips into action if you want to experience a rewarding career that exceeds your expectations. In an age where healthcare demands are higher than ever, these tips will prove to be extremely useful to both yourself and your colleagues.
Remember to bookmark this guide so that you never forget a detail.
