PEI Health Careers Directory

Last spring the Health Sector Council released the PEI Health Careers Directory, outlining 62 health occupations practiced on the Island. The booklet scratches the surface really; there are so many options for people interested in pursuing a career in health.

Each career gets a brief write-up including a job description, salary range, high school preparation and post-secondary requirements, and a list of schools offering programs leading to a job in the career profiled. So, for example, the entry for Medical Laboratory Technologist looks like this:

Health Profession: Medical Laboratory Technologist

Job Description: Medical Laboratory Technologists perform sophisticated laboratory tests that help diagnose and treat disease

Approximate Salary: $40,000 - $57,500

High School Preparation: Academic high school diploma with an emphasis on biology, chemistry, computer science and math

Academic Requirements: Post-secondary studies in medical laboratory science – usually a 2- or 3-year program at the community college level

Schools in Atlantic Canada: College of the North Atlantic, NL (3-year program); New Brunswick Community College Saint John Campus, NB (2.5-year program)

Each of the careers fits into a loosely defined category – Cancer Care, Clinical Laboratory Science, Dentistry, Diagnostic Imaging, Health Information and Communication, the Medical Profession, Mental Health, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, Special Technologies and Services, Therapy and Vision Care. The categories make it easy to look up careers that you might be interested in. If you’re curious about nursing, for example, open up the section on Nursing and you’ll see that there are seven nursing-oriented jobs listed. If you enjoy science and lab work, check out Diagnostic Imaging or Clinical Laboratory Science for jobs that lean in that direction, like medical laboratory technologist.

Check out the booklet; let me know what you think. We have hardcopies at the office for anyone interested (our contact info is on the PEIHSC website). Also, we’ll probably revise the booklet in the future, so if you work in any of the occupations listed and notice something that should be changed or updated (like the salary ranges) please get in touch with me.

Cheers,

Mark

Recruiting the ‘Facebook Generation’

Julie Murphy, Administrative Assistant with the Health Sector Council, sent me the following article on recruitment strategies for Gen Xers and Yers. The article points out that recruitment strategies highlighting job benefits and salary through the use of traditional media (newspaper ads, for example) do not resonate with the 18-32 age bracket, and how the most successful recruitment campaigns are turning to new venues (social media like Facebook, blogs, and Youtube) to send a different message (social responsibility and personal values versus job security and salary) about what it means to work with a particular organization. I think a good example of this recruitment style is the recent Canadian Forces campaign – you’ve probably seen some of the grainy, edgy, documentary-style recruitment ads on TV. You can also check out individual videos on the Canadian Forces website and on Youtube (like the Fight Chaos and Fight Distress/Chaos/Fear videos). I probably wouldn’t last a day in the forces, but these videos make me want to join and make a difference in the world...for a few seconds at least.

So what does this mean for the health sector on PEI? Can it learn something from recruitment strategies that emphasise changing the world, making a difference, and personal growth over salary range and mission statements? Certainly people working in the health sector are often drawn to the field out of a desire to ‘do good’ and change lives. But this aspect of health sector careers is rarely (if ever) stated in the job postings I see on the job board.

What do you think? Would a shift in focus in health sector recruitment to a more youthful, tech-savvy demographic with an emphasis on values and ethics serve to entice more health workers to the Island? In my opinion, yes, a different recruitment approach probably would serve to generate more interest in the PEI health sector. I’m not sure what that approach would necessarily look like; imagine the Canadian Forces videos but instead focusing on medical careers, nursing and so on. But there’s another piece to that puzzle, which is ensuring that once we attract the so-called ‘Facebook generation’ to the PEI health system we keep them there. That’s the key component really. If the workplace doesn’t live up to the expectations of a new recruit, they probably won’t stick around, and ensuring that we have an exemplary workplace here on the Island goes hand-in-hand with recruitment, whatever the approach.

Wooing Facebook Generation with Meaning, Spirit

By Carly Foster
June 1, 2008

In the 70s, it was stability. The 80s: Money. The 90s: Balance. Now, some analysts say employee recruiting and retention is about communicating the meaning and purpose of work, even more so than the value of benefits and total rewards.

The path to recruiting and retaining the so-called Facebook Generation is not through fancy gimmicks and traditional advertising - it's through meaning, spirit and tech-savvy company promotion, says Tod Maffin.The broadcaster, blogger and social media strategist was the keynote speaker at EBNC's recent sold-out Canadian Benefits Summit, discussing "Recruiting the Facebook Generation: How to Win the War on Talent."

read more of the article here...

This just in - students actually listen to their parents (sometimes)!

The PEIHSC released a report on grade 12 students’ education and career plans in January. The report was based on a survey we conducted with grade 12 students during the 2007/2008 school year, and we were really impressed with the number of students (almost half of the grade 12 population) who took the time to fill out the survey. I thought this would be a good venue to point out some of the findings of the survey, especially for members of the public who might not be aware of it.

For this post I’d like to focus on the part of the survey where we asked students about what influences their education and career plans. We found that parents have the most influence on high school students’ plans (does this surprise you?). We asked students the degree to which their career plans were influenced by three different factors – parents/guardians, friends and career promotions campaigns. 36.6% were influenced “some” or “a lot” by career promotions campaigns, 39.6% were influenced “some” or “a lot” by friends, and 66.8% were influence “some” or “a lot” by parents. That’s a significant percentage of high school students who rely on parents for information and insight on future education and careers, and I think it drives home the fact that parents need to have access to the right information.

In an effort to get information out there about opportunities in the health sector and the variety of occupations available, we published Health Careers on PEI, a directory of 62 health occupations practiced on the Island. Most of us are aware of the staffing issues with physicians, nurses and pharmacists and that demand for those careers are high, but there are other health careers that are also in high demand. Additionally, many health careers are accessible to people who may not be interested in pursuing the education required for a career as a family doctor or specialist surgeon. Occupations like medical laboratory technologists, licensed practical nurses, dental hygienists, resident care workers and emergency medical technicians require between 6 months and 2 years of college education.

If you would like a hardcopy of the Grade 12 Exit Strategy report or the health careers directory drop me a line or give me a call and I’ll see what I can do for you. My contact info can be found on my profile or the Health Sector Council website.

Cheers,
Mark

Recruiting men to nursing

I was checking out a few university websites yesterday looking for information on programs in dentistry, wondering what kind of entry requirements there were and whether my BA would give me the necessary background to get into one of them. Simply out of curiosity, of course; I’m not thinking of leaving the Health Sector Council.

Not surprisingly, the courses I took on Maritime Archaic Prehistory, Old English and Medieval Art and Architecture may not have prepared me for a doctorate in dental surgery. Apparently dentists need some sort of science background...go figure. So I was chatting to James about this (again, this is all hypothetical) and he said, “What about becoming a dental hygienist?”

I hadn’t considered a dental hygienist program, and that made me wonder why? Did it have something to do with dental hygienist being a primarily female profession? Was I conditioned to omit dental hygiene as a consideration for this reason? Dental hygienists are in-demand after all, work regular hours as far as I know, and get paid well. It sounds like a great profession with great opportunity.

James sent me a CBC article on the challenges of recruiting men into nursing professions, another field represented primarily by women. Here is a link to that article. The article points out that although men make up about 10-13% of students in nursing programs, only 5% of practicing nurses are men. Additionally, male students are more likely to drop out of nursing programs than female students. Why is that?

The article also points out that there is no shortage of people applying to nursing programs. In that light, should we be concerned with recruiting men into nursing programs (or other traditionally female occupations)? While I’m not sure that recruiting men into occupations traditionally practiced by women is important just for the sake of creating gender balance, I do think it is important to encourage people to pursue the career path of their choice.

It’s a tricky subject, and one that is difficult to discuss wearing my PEIHSC cap and trying to stay on the path of political correctness. So, as usual, I will turn the question back on you and get your take. Why aren’t more men becoming dental hygienists, RNs, LPNs, etc.? Is it important to recruit more men into traditionally female occupations? Click on the comments link below this entry to let us know.

Cheers,
Mark