11 December A clinician wearing the corporate hat for the first time (By Ling Tan) December 11, 2023 By Sharnee Trehan career, challenges, internship, placement 0 By Ling Tan 1st Year Management Intern A clinician wearing the corporate hat for the first time For my second internship placement, I was assigned to Strategy and Planning at Barwon Health, a tertiary-level public hospital in regional Victoria. Stepping into this rotation, I found myself in uncharted waters and was out of my comfort zone on many levels, to say the least. Yet, not an ounce of regret crossed my mind. Instead, this placement offered an excellent learning opportunity for an intern like me, transitioning from clinical practice to health service management. I have summarised my learnings in three points below. Listen and learn Having previously worked as a community-based clinician, I had to familiarise myself with the acute setting. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to attend monthly directorate performance meetings where my role was to provide secretariat support. By tuning into discussions at those meetings, I quickly learned: A new set of jargon—National Weighted Activity Unit (NWAU), separations, and length of stay (LOS) are just a few examples. The vast number of departments and complex layers of governance that exist in a hospital compared to a community health service. The vital roles and functions of each unit, the interplay between departments, and key performance indicators that contribute to a high-performing hospital. Do your research and get to know the subject matter expert (well) My primary responsibility was to lead the development of an organisational strategy for environmental sustainability—an area that is well and truly beyond my clinical expertise. To expedite my learning in this domain, I took a deep dive into key environmental issues within the healthcare sector through extensive reading and participating in relevant webinars and workshops. Aside from self-directed learning, what proved even more helpful was the close professional relationship that I had established with the Environmental Sustainability Manager. The manager served as the technical “source of truth,” a critical support when tasked with writing a strategy on a topic that I initially knew very little about. Through working closely with the manager, I have developed a greater understanding of the profound impacts of climate change on health services and vice versa. Your placement supervisor and ACHSM mentor are valuable resources As the project lead, I had to execute tasks that I had never done before in my former roles. From executive stakeholder engagement to writing the strategy itself, I was a beginner all over again. However, I was not thrown into the deep end alone. My placement supervisor was a great resource, coaching me week in and week out. From him, I learned how to: navigate the hierarchy in the hospital and effectively engage with senior and executive stakeholders facilitate productive dialogues to elicit stakeholder feedback to inform the strategy translate complex ideas and write them succinctly in corporate documents. I also scheduled regular catch-ups with my ACHSM mentor throughout the placement. My mentor served as a great sounding board, listening to my concerns and offering her perspectives. Having another person to guide and cheer you on as you navigate a new professional environment goes a long way. Writing this blog post at the conclusion of my project, I can proudly say that the draft strategy has received positive feedback from the Chief Executive and relevant stakeholders and is now awaiting final endorsement by the Board. This achievement would not have been possible without the people who consistently supported me in reaching the finish line. I hope that my experience offers valuable insights and serves as encouragement for fellow interns who find themselves navigating unfamiliar territories. As the saying goes, there is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel. Disclaimer: Views are those of individual authors and not those of ACHSM or management intern’s employers Related Posts Climate change: the role of health service management in leading for change (Funmi Lamidi) Funmi Lamidi discusses the role that health service management can play in combatting the climate crisis. My Journey from Clinician to Health Service Manager: Lessons from a 2-Year Internship (By Sally Guo) As I reflect on my transition from clinician to health service manager, I'm reminded of the wisdom that says the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, but the second-best time is now. The decision to embark on this journey, whether through the ACSHM internship, further studies, or clinical management roles, was not taken lightly. It required a leap of faith, a seizing of the moment. Walking (more like crawling) among giants (Harrison Thorn) Working with the CEO and the Board of Alfred Health Transferrable skills - a clinician to manager's perspective (Kelvin Yap) Kelvin Yap discusses transferable skills in health management. Four Lessons: From Bedside to Boardroom Ren Cazar, a first-year health management intern, discusses the challenges and triumphs of moving from bedside to boardroom, describing the hidden parallels between the clinician, leaders and the patient. Settling into a new professional environment A steep learning curve of the internship is settling into new and unfamiliar environments. We start 4 jobs in 2 years, each placement is vastly different and generally involves a role that we have had limited prior experience in. Integrating quickly into new working environments is always challenging and is a skill that needs to be developed like any other. But some simple methods can be utilised to make the transition easier and more effective. Comments are closed.