5 Tips for Students Who Want to Work in HR Across the Healthcare Industry

Sustaining a Lucrative Career in a Staple (and Stable) Industry

Medicine is one of the most stable careers that’s out there. It’s also an economic staple. It will always be necessary, it bridges economic shifts in terms of administration, and it is hand-in-glove with the technology sector; meaning those who reach the height of their field are always on the cutting edge of that which moves the world.

Even so, getting into such a career isn’t always easy. It’s one of the few that are more competitive for those who specialize in HR, because in ideal circumstances turnover is quite low. That’s not to say nonexistent, but medicine tends to have a higher standard.

In this writing we’ll explore five tips you may well want to consider as you go about obtaining and securing a career in healthcare.

1. Plan To Manage Financially Long-Term Human Assets

On average, 80% of med students use loans to underwrite their degree, and the average amount they owe for their education is over $250k. That’s buying a house without a job, and the interest is going to keep them paying on the debt incrementally for around ten years. This means those you manage will have a more vested interest in their careers, generally.

For HR, it’s important for such individuals to see you as an ally in their long-term goals. Their medical degree is a means to an end. The end is paying off their degree’s cost and running their own medical operation where they hire their own HR people. So if you truly treat them like partners, rather than assets, you may find a future job opportunity when they branch out and need a new HR manager.

Think about it. If a doctor’s degree takes eight years, and it takes them thirteen years to pay it off, that’s twenty-one years before they’re clear. If such personnel started studying at 18, it’s possible they’d be free by 39. This is a long-term commitment for them. Many in HR don’t study nearly so long to attain their positions. Know who you’re dealing with.

2. Pick the Right Healthcare Niche

So those in healthcare are committing themselves to, at minimum, a twenty-year chunk of their lives, once the dust settles. The amount of associated complication for longer careers will impact how you manage people at whatever institution you’re working for.

Some niches will be more relaxed than others. Do a little homework to find which healthcare niches best fit your aspirations in terms of HR. Be sure the niche that interests you is the right one. As the old saying goes, choose your rut carefully when you drive your wagon to Alaska; you’ll be in it a long way.

3. Assure You Have Requisite Study Resources

It’s important to understand, as much as it’s possible to, the sort of eccentricities defining the particular medical institution where you’re serving in an HR capacity. These USMLE study materials can be an important part of such understanding.

When you know where those you manage are coming from, you’ll have less friction as you shuffle things around to fit the needs of the business overall.

4. Explore All Your Options Carefully Prior Commitment

Different healthcare options have different advantages and expenses. While many healthcare facilities feature staff sourced from ivy-league institutions, that doesn’t mean they’re the only and best option for actually educating people. This statement is one about which some will have a strong opinion; well, understand this reality as you seek HR positions.

The proof is in the pudding, not the pedigree. Plenty of top-tier institutions provide sub-par education, and some low-level colleges will better enable students. As an HR professional, you don’t want a conglomeration of preening post-med students trying to boss you around. This could impact your choice of healthcare facility regarding employment.

5. Seek Advice From Friends, Family, Colleagues, and Advisors

Medicine is a specific practice that requires advice from those who have trod the same path. So is HR–there are many situations where understanding the right choice requires experience, and you don’t have it. For such situations, it becomes rather important to secure reliable advice.

Friends, family—peers and colleagues who are on the same career trajectory as you are—all can provide you relevant information. You’ll get some of the best advice from HR people or educational facilities that specialize in healthcare HR, but much of managing the resources we call human does involve life experience; so don’t limit yourself to industry specialists.

Giving Yourself a Firm Career Foundation

Solid advice from trusted people, medical institutions hiring from colleges that produce skill over prestige, understanding where the staff you manage are coming from in terms of specific education, picking the right niche, and planning for the long-term will all help you establish a solid foundation from which to grow your HR career.