Epic Career Moves - Step One

The word epic can mean heroic or grand in scale or character. This weekend, along with several dozen other instructors, I will be presenting at a course for career changers. The personal and professional risks of changing careers is an epic decision. And, as suggested by the fire extinguisher in the locked box graphic, you need the keys before there's a fire. You cannot start your search for the keys once you're engulfed in a fire! Same with career management. The conference is SEAK's 6th Annual 2009 Non-Clinical Careers for Physicians. (The 2010, 7th Annual conference I cover in Step Five of the series, here: http://tinyurl.com/248hpgm ) Although directed to physicians, the issues are more universal:

The ... course is designed for ... [people] ... who: (from their web site)

• Don't enjoy going to work anymore
  
• Are ready for new challenges
  
• Want to explore their options
  
• Are frustrated and dissatisfied with their current career
  
• Want to learn how to locate and land lucrative ... positions
  
• Are in or near retirement and are looking for additional income/challenges
  
• Would like to eliminate the stress and time commitments of their current career and spend more time with their families
  
• Are looking to jump start their career transition
  
• Are deciding whether to change careers
  
• Need a jumping-off point for their career transition

My section, " Medical Informatics: Non-Clinical Career Options for Physicians," is one of 24 in the main session, which has approximately four days of non-overlapping breadth, delivered over two days, with other materials and networking built in. The support and feedback I've received as a speaker from this organization (seak.com) has been exemplary, including very specific feedback from attendees on exactly what they want and need from my session. The wonders of the Internet in general, and effectively used email in particular! They used a concurrent snail-mail vehicle as well, considering a heterogeneous set of skills in their target audience. And I'm not talking about email use; I'm talking about time management associated with effective email use. The topic does not fit into a 50-minute time slot aimed at a diverse audience. So, working with my colleague, Tonya Hongsermeier, MD, MBA, we broke this down into two sections, with extensive and clear content on two sets of handouts. With the permission of SEAK and Tonya, I am publishing both sections in this blog. Tonya's great presentation is at the end of this post. Tonya's section covers the 50,000 foot perspective question, what are the "Clinical Informatics Opportunities in Healthcare and Lifesciences."

After I present my section, I will publish "Epic Career Moves - Step Two," containing my runway level perspective on how to pursue "Health Informatics: Non-Clinical Career Options for Physicians."I'm confident that readers will find useful material to "borrow" from both presentations. I'm also confident that my friends, Gwen and Tim, will provide a comment with links to their own key recommendations! /Media/BlogTopics/2008 Hongsermeier - Medical Informatics Careers SEAK.pdfThe blog post, Epic Career Moves - Step Two is here.