HCS 305 Week 3 Professional Organizations and Networking Example

Four Associations, Two Mentors and One Conference: Choosing Professional Organizations and Building a Network for a Move Into Health Care Management

[Student Name]

University of Phoenix

HCS/305: Health Care Professional Development

Week 3 Assignment

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The student and the plan are composites written for a model paper; research findings come from the sources listed, and organizations are described from their public missions.

Last spring, our regional EMS council held a leadership meeting where operations supervisors from six agencies discussed offload delays with hospital leaders. I learned about it from a coworker a week later. I had spent seven years in emergency services without joining any professional organization. This paper compares four associations, chooses two and builds a year-long networking plan toward my goal of ambulance operations or hospital patient flow management.

Why Professional Organizations Matter

Professional associations offer education, credentials, standards of practice, job boards and, above all, access to people in the roles I want. Their local chapters are where students meet practitioners. The major management associations also share a common set of competencies (Stefl, 2008), so their education programs build skills that carry across settings.

Criteria

I compared each organization on mission and members, fit with my goal, student membership and cost, local chapter activity, events and education, and credentials.

The American College of Healthcare Executives

Mission and members: an international professional society for health care leaders, mostly in hospitals and health systems. Fit: strong for hospital patient flow and long-term advancement. Student access: student associate membership at a reduced rate. Local chapter: active, with quarterly events. Credential: board certification in health care management for experienced executives, a long-term goal.

The Medical Group Management Association

Mission and members: an association for leaders of medical group practices. Fit: weaker for my goals, which are not practice-based. Student access: student membership available. Credential: certification for medical practice executives.

The Healthcare Financial Management Association

Mission and members: financial professionals in health care. Fit: useful for building financial skills, but not central to my goals. Student access: student membership available. Local chapter: active.

The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians

Mission and members: an association representing EMS practitioners, with education and advocacy programs. Fit: strong for ambulance operations, and I already belong to the profession. Student access: practitioner membership. Education: leadership courses for EMS supervisors.

Specialty and Local Groups

Beyond national associations, specialty and local groups matter. The regional EMS council, a state emergency preparedness coalition and a hospital association's patient flow forum all bring together the people I want to meet. They cost little or nothing to attend and are where local hiring decisions are shaped.

What I Rejected and Why

The medical group association is excellent for practice managers, but its members work in settings I am not aiming for. The financial management association would build skills I need, but I can build those through coursework and one chapter event a year rather than full membership now.

My Choice

I will join the American College of Healthcare Executives as a student associate and the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. Together they cover both of my top paths: hospital leadership and EMS operations.

What Research Says About Networking

Wolff and Moser (2009) followed employees over three years and found that networking behaviors were related to career success, with maintaining contacts in particular related to salary growth over time. The finding changed how I think about networking: the value lies less in meeting people once than in staying in touch, which is a habit, not an event.

What Research Says About Mentoring

Allen et al. (2004), in a meta-analysis, found that mentored individuals reported more career success than those who were not mentored, with career-related mentoring linked to outcomes such as compensation and promotion and psychosocial mentoring linked more strongly to satisfaction.

Networking as Being Useful

Networking works best when both sides gain. I can offer something to hospital leaders: an ambulance crew's view of offload delays. Offering that perspective in meetings is a better introduction than asking for favors.

The Networking Plan: First Quarter

Join both organizations. Attend the ACHE chapter's fall event and introduce myself to two hospital operations leaders. Attend the regional EMS council meeting.

Second Quarter

Ask one hospital patient flow manager for a 30-minute conversation about how the role works. Volunteer for the EMS council's offload delay work group.

Third Quarter

Ask my operations manager to be a formal mentor with monthly meetings. Complete an EMS leadership course offered through the association.

Fourth Quarter

Attend a regional conference. Follow up with every person I met this year with a short note about what I learned or did.

Asking for Mentoring

My request will be specific: would you meet with me for 30 minutes a month for six months to help me prepare for a supervisor role? I will bring questions and report back on what I tried.

Following Up Without Being a Burden

I will keep a simple contact list with the date and topic of each conversation, send a note after each meeting and reach out every few months with something useful, such as an article or an update, rather than a request.

Networking Inside My Own Organization

The easiest network to build is the one I already have. Our service's billing manager, human resources director and medical director all know how the agency runs beyond the ambulance. I will ask each for a short conversation this year about their work, which also shows leaders that I am preparing for more responsibility.

Online Presence

I will update my professional networking profile to show my degree in progress and my offload work group role.

Balancing Time

Networking competes with shifts, coursework and family. I will limit myself to one event a month and one follow-up message a week, a pace I can sustain for a year.

Costs

Student associate and practitioner dues together cost under $200 this year; conference registration adds about $300, which my employer may cover.

Measures

By year's end: two organizations joined, four events attended, one mentor, five new contacts in hospital operations and one work group role.

Conclusion

Comparing organizations on consistent criteria led me to two that match both of my career paths. Research shows that maintaining contacts and having mentors are linked to career success, so my plan focuses on staying in touch, being useful and asking for specific help.

References

Allen, T. D., Eby, L. T., Poteet, M. L., Lentz, E., & Lima, L. (2004). Career benefits associated with mentoring for protégés: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(1), 127-136. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.89.1.127

Stefl, M. E. (2008). Common competencies for all healthcare managers: The Healthcare Leadership Alliance model. Journal of Healthcare Management, 53(6), 360-373. https://doi.org/10.1097/00115514-200811000-00004

Wolff, H.-G., & Moser, K. (2009). Effects of networking on career success: A longitudinal study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(1), 196-206. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013350