A lot of medical professionals think that they have nothing else to learn when they leave medical school, but this isn’t true. There are always ways of advancing, developing, and becoming better in and at one’s career.
If you are a medical professional and want to become better at what you do, then why not consider learning some new skills? New skills will give you a greater edge and could help you to get a promotion.
This post will tell you about six things you should consider learning if you want to stand out.
Thought Leadership
A thought leader is an individual who uses their expertise and knowledge to give advice to the people around them. In a medical setting, implementing thought leadership tactics could help you to seem like more of an authority. Seeming more informed, authoritative, and educated will undoubtedly make you stand out to your managers. If you are the person that staff goes to for help, then sooner or later you will be promoted to a position of power. You can also offer advice to people on social media or by creating your own blog.
However, if you are going to become a thought leader, then you need to make sure that you don’t come across as arrogant. If you are a junior doctor, lecturing surgeons and managers about what they should be doing can irritate them more than anything else. Also, make sure that the information you are giving is always factually correct.
Good Communicator
If you want to excel in medicine, then you need to be a good communicator. Being unable to properly convey points or get your opinion across will damage your reputation and chances of getting a promotion. You won’t be able to succeed as a healthcare worker if you aren’t able to effectively communicate. There are various courses and classes that you can take online that can help you to learn how to properly communicate in a professional setting.
Learning to Negotiate
Negotiation is just as important as communication. If you aren’t a good negotiator then you won’t make a very good doctor. You need to be able to negotiate with colleagues, patients, and managers. As with communication, there are courses and classes that you can take online that can help you to improve your negotiation skills. Being a good negotiator can help you to build lasting relationships. It can also help you to deliver more effective solutions. Whenever you are applying for jobs, negotiation skills can also help you to argue for more attractive offers and deals. If you feel that you are being underpaid, then you can also use negotiation skills to get a better salary.
Time Management
In a healthcare setting, time management is essential. At the moment (and due to COVID) hospitals and doctor’s surgeries are under a lot of pressure. If you can demonstrate that you have good time management skills to your employers, then they will begin giving you more work to do and may give you more responsibility. However, in a healthcare setting, you need to make sure that you aren’t rushing tasks. A lot of people appear to be good at managing time, but in fact, just rush what they are doing.
Problem Solving
Problem-solving is another skill that will make you stand out to your employers. In hospitals and doctors’ surgeries, being able to resolve complex problems can significantly improve your reputation. It is also worth noting that if you are able to resolve any of your patients’ complex problems then your standing in the medical community will be increased significantly. A lot of doctors and healthcare workers just follow and prescribe treatment plans that are tried and tested. Developing your own (or adapting existing ones) will make you look like a forward thinker and will boost your credibility significantly.
Networking
Finally, you need to be a good networker. Thanks to social media and the internet, networking has never been easier. Networking gives you the opportunity to meet people who are more experienced than you and learn from them. If you are trying to make a name for yourself as a doctor or healthcare worker, then networking will assist you with this. A good way to network outside of using the internet is to attend medical seminars. A medical seminar is an event where doctors from all over the world convene to discuss the latest treatments and advancements in the industry.
Medical professionals need to be good communicators, negotiators, networkers, problem solvers, thought leaders, and time managers. Having all of these skills can make you a lot more attractive to employers. You are almost guaranteed a senior position if you develop and adopt these skills.