Megan Riksen:

Hello and welcome to the Work Like a Laker podcast. I'm Megan Riksen, and today we're talking about getting experience in healthcare. Gaining experience in healthcare can help test out what it's like to work in that type of setting. You can get hands-on experience for those contact hours that might be required to even apply to a program or just to build your resume in an environment that is geared toward helping others. So definitely wanted to bring in some of our in-house experts on this topic. So today we are going to have a nice little career advisor chat with two of our very own Meghan Veltri and Stephanie Dombrowski-Jensen, who each support students in our healthcare career community. And that can be helping students who are figuring out their path to work in healthcare, who are applying to those secondary admittance healthcare programs, who are looking to discover opportunities really to gain experience in the field. So welcome Meghan and Stephanie.

Meghan Veltri:

Hi, good to be here.

Stephanie Dombrowski-Jensen:

Hi. Thank you.

Megan Riksen:

All right, so let's just get started. Why does gaining healthcare experience matter to a student?

Stephanie Dombrowski-Jensen:

As you mentioned, some programs do require application or patient contact hours, so some of them require it, others don't. It also helps build those professional networks, develop practical skills, even test out, do I like this environment, do I not? Not everyone will get into a program. So those skills and networks, so those people that you meet along the way in those environments can lead to other non-clinical healthcare career paths. So you can do it because you need those hours, you need those skills, or also you just make those connections with people that can help you further your career path.

Megan Riksen:

Yeah, absolutely. I think that's a really good point that you should never really look at, at an experience you're getting is just geared toward one specific thing. Right? So all right, let's, let's get into the nitty gritty. What are some of these experiences that we're actually talking about that a student might start to pursue?

Meghan Veltri:

Sure. So when you're thinking about your patient contact hours, a lot of times students will think about working in a hospital setting and that's great. That is a great place to gain a lot of experience. Usually when they're talking about getting patient contact hours, programs are looking for an a job or an experience where you are getting some hands-on patient care. That's one of the ways that you can get patient contact hours is working directly with patients. Some of those job titles that you might have might be a nurse tech, patient care tech, home health aide, medical scribe. Those are a few examples. One thing that there's some confusion about for students is that they're often looking for internships. Healthcare students are looking for internships just like other students are. And you might not find that job title or as many, the term internship often is held for students that are already in clinical programs.

Meghan Veltri:

So if you're in the sonography program or in the radiation therapy program, you might be doing a clinical internship of sorts. But for other students that are looking for that entry level experience, really the tech roles are where they're gonna get that. And students can work in hospital settings, but they can also work in other areas too. Nursing homes are a great experience. Also if you're thinking about home health, that's another location that a lot of students don't always realize. So there's some differences and benefits to all of these different roles that students have. Tech roles. What would, these are some of the roles that we're talking about right now. They're the entry level positions where you're able to work hands-on with patients. They're paid, so that's a perk. I think a lot of students are looking to make a little bit of money in school and gain of experience.

Meghan Veltri:

It's a foot in the door, so it can really help with career exploration, seeing if healthcare is right for you. There's hospital clinics in home nursing home. I touched on a few of those. Assisted living is another one. And then there's also short term and longer term care experiences too. So if you, we have some students who work in the ER and they're meeting a variety of patients, shorter term experiences. We have other students who are working in nursing homes and they have longer relationship building opportunities with their patients. So it's kind of like what the student's looking for, where it can fit within their schedule. The benefit of working in these places is that some places have more flexible schedules as well too. There is a position called resource, which that's where students can kind of pick up shifts, work around their schedule.

Meghan Veltri:

It's kind of need based on what the hospital or whatever healthcare organization they're working with has in home roles, can have flexibility to, you might work, you know, a straight shift for 12 hours, but then you get a few days off. So I know that student schedules are a big deal and there is some, definitely some flexibility in some different roles. We also get the question a lot of do I need a CNA certified nurse assistant. Some students get that in high school, which is wonderful. If you have it, you can put it to use. But if you didn't get it in high school, it can be pretty expensive. And so we would actually encourage you just to check out some tech roles because right now students can get some of those experiences. And on the job training versus having to pay additionally for the CNA role. The CNA is still great. But if you're mindful of time and money right now, a tech role can work. Phlebotomy, EMT, those are also great resources where students just kind of depends on the location. You might need additional training for that and we'd be happy to help you identify some of those options if you need.

Stephanie Dombrowski-Jensen:

A couple other ways. Volunteering is another great way to test out an environment before jumping in. Most organizations do have a requirement, usually about five hours per week commitment for a semester. And those are also competitive. So you may need to apply a semester ahead to get on a wait list to be able to volunteer. And then you also have to be aware that most organizations healthcare related will have a health compliance expectation, which is you have to make sure your immunizations are up to date. They'll maybe do a TB test. So that needs to be done as well before you can start volunteering. Something that maybe has a little bit less commitment is the online volunteering opportunities. Especially if you're trying to juggle classes and you're busy and you can't necessarily commit to a specific hours. Some of our favorite ones are Textline crisis or Seven Cups.

Stephanie Dombrowski-Jensen:

They deal with mental health and that adds value too, as well. You're using technology and you're getting in a supportive role in mental health and that looks amazing in any healthcare application process or just getting that experience. Another one is shadowing. So that's a great way to test out a career path. Some programs do require students to shadow as part of that application process. And you can usually find those on their volunteer page of an organization. Or even just using LinkedIn. I love LinkedIn and looking at alumni at Grand Valley, that may be our PAs now or nurses and reaching out through that messaging feature just to say, Hey, maybe ask them some questions or see if you can shadow and they can help direct that process through their organization. So alumni are a great resource. It's also shorter term commitment.

Stephanie Dombrowski-Jensen:

It says more exploratory but it allows you to kind of test out that environment and gain more information. Another one that I really like is research. This actually gives you some exposure to nonclinical experience and it can help you stand out on an application. Our faculty at Grand Valley I think are really great about allowing students to help out in different research things that they're doing. Great way to do it is reach out to them. A lot of them have office hours, you know, look at websites for different departments and say, is there any way that you can get involved? Doesn't mean you're gonna go into research or you have to know research, but a lot of times they'll allow you to help in part of that process and you're, again, gain that additional information that helps you stand out.

Megan Riksen:

Quick follow up about the shadowing. Is that something that you think most healthcare professionals are open to? Or is there any red tape to kind of get around with that?

Meghan Veltri:

Sure. Shadowing can be a little bit tricky sometimes, especially in a healthcare environment. One of the issues is HIPAA. So just maintaining patient confidentiality. Another area would be you know, I think these are sought after professionals and sometimes there's just not the opportunity to do it, especially if you're trying to shadow a physician. So that's part of the other reason why we do kind of push, if you can get that type of work experience. But some organizations, some larger hospital systems, or actually you could shadow at smaller places too. You just have to ask. We recommend for students use your networks of course. And so if you have a family member who works in healthcare, but also I didn't have any family members who worked in healthcare when I was a student and my roommate's mom helped me. So I would say start using some of those. We also have some great connections through the career center and different career events where we can help you get in touch with some of those employers. And that's where you can start that conversation. And we have a great resource center website to help you with shadowing too.

Megan Riksen:

Okay. Perfect. Yeah, that's helpful. Okay, so we've talked about some of the probably top of mind ways to gain some experience in healthcare, but are there other ways to kind of build your resume in the healthcare field? What do you guys have to say about that?

Meghan Veltri:

Sure. We would suggest all experience is good experience. You know, that customer service, those customer service skills that you get at your part-time job are beneficial. But some other things that you can do on campus, join some of the pre-health clubs and organizations. So I'm pretty sure there's a pre, into the position that or profession that you're looking for, for almost every industry that we have here and in Grand Valley. So students, that's a great way to get involved. So pre-med club, pre-OT club

Stephanie Dombrowski-Jensen:

I mean, it could be anything. Yeah, there's like the lettuce club, there's things like that. And it really is just getting involved and even taking on those leadership roles if you know, the opportunity within those organizations. Yeah.

Meghan Veltri:

And we can help you to figure out if you are wondering, well, I'm in the student organization, how does this relate back to the healthcare program? Really it's about service and involvement. And so we can coach you if you need help on how to articulate those experiences. So it can be on campus, it can be off campus. Working off campus is great because you're getting a whole other community that you're working with. You can get connected with different health related or community service projects and understand their impact. And then we can help you to connect that to the position that you're applying to. Even studying abroad. That's a great way to gain cultural experience, to work on your language skills, learn about healthcare in different countries. And then a great resource that we have on campus is the simulation center. So not a lot of students are aware of the Simulation Center, but that is actually located at our downtown our health campus. And we have different roles. I've had students be standardized patients and standardized technical communicators, so that sometimes can work out really well with their student schedule as well.

Megan Riksen:

All right. So I know you've mentioned online resources, but I do think that's something that maybe we could spend a little bit more time talking about. I think especially now that we're post COVID, these are just things that are kind of popping up everywhere. So can you talk a little bit about some of the ways that a student might either gain experience or get access to resources online?

Stephanie Dombrowski-Jensen:

Yeah, as we mentioned telehealth opportunities and virtual shadowing. I know a lot of programs out there love it. If you've had some exposure to technology. We know since COVID healthcare, we have those opportunities to do virtual visits. So if a student can get that experience even before getting in a program, it helps them be competitive. And as I mentioned, there are some websites out there that provide those opportunities. And we have a list of them as well that we can share with students. Virtual vol or virtual shadowing is also available. We have a list again that we can provide that resource and you're able to maybe do some shadowing through a professional platform that allows you to shadow. I think there's a pre or PA one that you can do that with, along with other ones. Networking on social media, you know, use LinkedIn.

Stephanie Dombrowski-Jensen:

A lot of people are thinking LinkedIn is a source for just, you know, looking for jobs. But it is a great career exploration piece where we can look at our alumni who are in a field, connect with them, ask them questions, do an informational interview, you know, ask them questions, even potentially set up a shadow with them as well. So use that social media platform. It's, it's not you're not bugging somebody at their day. It's really a great place to just connect and build your network as well. And they could be a resource for you in the future. We also have our healthcare career communities. I really highly encourage people to join that. It is in our career center website, you'll get a monthly newsletter, which we will list all the employment opportunities, volunteering campus events, both on and off. And even if you're not in healthcare, but maybe you're thinking about being in healthcare, it's a great resource. And we have healthcare, we have communities for even business and entrepreneurial. I am sure I'm missing a couple.

Meghan Veltri:

I've got one for all the industries, all the majors that we have.

Stephanie Dombrowski-Jensen:

So even if you just wanna test out, 'cause you're not quite sure it's signing up for those newsletters. You can sign up for as many as you want that we have or those communities. But it does allow you to get a quick newsletter each month to be able to kind of get a quick load down of everything that we're doing on campus. We even have employers that come on campus that are healthcare, from healthcare organizations and you can meet them to see what opportunities they have. And those would be listed in those those letters, those monthly newsletters that you get.

Meghan Veltri:

And I would also add in addition social media. I know students are hearing a lot about different professions through TikTok and we're okay with that. But what we would encourage you to do with learning about those professions is to keep digging. So of course you don't just wanna hear it from one person. You wanna make sure that, you know, there's consistency within the information we'd like to fact check, follow up to. We have great resources on our website that are run you know, by different reliable sources. And then talking with professionals, actual professionals in the field that you can interact with that can really help in your career decision making.

Megan Riksen:

Yeah, so basically information is everywhere, but I like how did you phrase that Megan. That you just kind of look for the consistent message? Among all the voices that your hearing.

Meghan Veltri:

Definitely. You know, someone could just be having a bad day or maybe they don't like the field anymore, but that doesn't mean that's true for you. So you wanna make sure you have your information correct.

Megan Riksen:

Absolutely. And yes, a bunch of the stuff that Stephanie mentioned as well, we will make sure we are linking to the show notes. And you know, the healthcare career community, both of you really are the drivers of that. And the content in that newsletter is vetted by our career advisor. So that is a place that I think you can feel very safe that's gonna be reliable information. Wonderful if you, you know, start getting out there, getting some experience in healthcare and you love it, but what if you start doing that and you're like not sure if this is for me. What advice?

Meghan Veltri:

Yeah, this is almost one of my favorite topics to talk about with students. And I think because they might feel like, oh, this was so disappointing that I didn't like this, but my argument is always like, now, you know, right. Which it's much better to know sooner rather than later if you can. And so that's why Stephanie and I would encourage any student to do any type of job shadowing or experience or getting informational interviews with professionals. Try to do that early on. So as you move through your curriculum, you're feeling confident about your decision or at least informed. You wanna definitely be informed. And of course we don't always know how things are going to turn out, but you wanna make sure that you're moving through the process and that you have the information that you need. But let's say you job shadow volunteer, you work in healthcare and you don't like it, that's okay.

Meghan Veltri:

So what we would encourage you to think about is what have you learned from those experiences? You know, is it that you don't necessarily like a busier environment, you like a more quiet and scheduled environment, right? So maybe the ER, maybe volunteering in the ER wasn't for you, but you really enjoyed working in the clinic. Was there a task that you really enjoyed? I've had some students who have said things like, oh, I didn't love the direct patient care, but I didn't mind doing front desk and being in the environment. It was more the direct patient care that they didn't enjoy as much. You know, were there other healthcare professionals that were working there that you were curious about their job or you observed other jobs and thought, I don't wanna do this, I actually wanna do that. That's really common with what we see with students.

Meghan Veltri:

If they make a change, it's usually because they saw someone else doing it when they were working their current role. Think about the, what you liked about the experience, if that could translate into another profession or industry. So you don't have to stay in healthcare, you could transition to something else. You know, something that's really common is a lot of students will say like, oh, I enjoyed talking to the patients. You can talk, if you can communicate with people that will serve you in basically any industry. And then trust your gut. And so I really encourage students to do this. I know it feels maybe uncomfortable because there's just so much you don't know out there, but if you don't like something or if you're not enjoying it, you're not having some fun and interest and curiosity in it, maybe that's time to say that there's another opportunity out there for you. And we offer that service. So Stephanie and I help students with parallel planning. So that's students that are maybe looking to have a backup plan in case things didn't work out or they're looking to make a change or a shift, but they don't wanna do a whole change. And how do they do that? Basically we are here to talk you through if you run into that scenario.

Stephanie Dombrowski-Jensen:

Yeah. And I think the earlier you start testing it out the more time you have to make decisions and pivot as needed. So yeah, connect with us early and often you don't have to wait till the last minute to start doing those connections.

Megan Riksen:

Awesome. Okay. So I'm gonna give you each a minute to think what are some of those last things you wanna be able to tell students? I will not share exactly how many years of experience you have each have working with as many students, these healthcare students, but I know it's a lot. So what, what have we missed?

Stephanie Dombrowski-Jensen:

Well, I'm gonna plug a couple of events that Megan and I both do in the fall and the winter, it's how to gain healthcare experience. We hold it on campus. It's usually in October. I'm haven't set the exact date yet. We will soon. And it's from four to five and usually Kirkoff we hold it. But it's a great place to meet probably about 10 to 11, 12 employers that come on campus and they are just looking to connect with you. And you don't need experience. And it really is geared to probably our first and second year students. But we definitely get people who are in programs that have graduated. They're looking for work, but you don't need experience. Come as you are and find out about the organizations that we have in our area and how to get involved. And that could be volunteering, paid experiences, shadowing and it ranges from, you know, mental health to acute care long term, they're all gonna be there.

Stephanie Dombrowski-Jensen:

So it's a great place to come early and test that out and have those conversations. And then probably another thing I'd like to add is just diversify your experiences. Even outside of healthcare, everything you do matters and everything you do gains experience. So if you're having a summer and you're like, oh, I really wanted to get this job in the hospital, but for whatever reason you couldn't we say, you know, volunteer or shadow or even work at a camp or, you know, get a, a position where you're doing customer service because all of those skills that you can build outside of healthcare still add value to you as an applicant.

Meghan Veltri:

Yeah, I think what I would add is apply. So I think we have a lot of students that will come to us and you know, they've got everything in order and they'll say, you know, I think I wanna apply to this job. And we'll say, okay, great. Go ahead and apply. And they're hesitant too. And I think it's just because, you know, confidence and not really sure how those conversations are going to go. If you are nervous or not. Sure, we offer simulated interviews. We can help talk you through things. We have resume support, right? So we can help you with that. But I would encourage you just apply and see what happens. And of course if you apply a lot and you're not getting anywhere, definitely come back to us and we can take a look at your materials and adjust. So that's one thing I would really encourage students to do.

Meghan Veltri:

The other thing is is I know this can be really overwhelming. One thing about healthcare programs that's maybe a little bit different than some other programs is there's the secondary admission for a lot of those programs, right? And you have to apply and that can feel just like a lot of logistics. And so that can feel really big. I tell students just focus on one thing a semester. So maybe it is this semester I'm going to focus on job shadowing. You know, I, my schedule's really busy this year, but I have a couple of dates where I could fit this in. Then do that maybe the following semester. You think, okay, I'm gonna try, try to get some research experience. Maybe the summer is easier for you to work a tech job. And some hospitals have had two like summer work opportunities that students could do. And they know you're only gonna be there for the summer. But I would also say those things do start a little bit earlier. So you know, for the summer it's not too late or too early, I should say, to start looking for some of those opportunities in the fall.

Megan Riksen:

Okay. Yeah.

Meghan Veltri:

But also start where you are. If that's too overwhelming, just try to get some experience in the semester you're in.

Megan Riksen:

Awesome. Okay, well thank you both so much for being here.

Meghan Veltri:

Thanks. It was wonderful.

Megan Riksen:

Thank you. Thanks for letting us share the information. All right, so that was a ton of information. Hopefully we didn't overwhelm you, but you know, we will share all the links and hopefully you just learned a little bit more about gaining some experience in this really exciting, always evolving field. So thank you so much to everyone for listening, and we hope you tune into a future episode soon.