Career Stories from the Healthcare Perspectives: Consulting

NCHL presents the Career Stories from the Healthcare Perspective, a series part of the Guide for the Healthcare Early Careerist. It provides the early careerists with insights and advice from those in the field in a variety of areas.

This episode focuses on healthcare consulting What is healthcare consulting? | What do healthcare consultants do on a day to day basis? | What can early careerists do in this space? are all questions being answered by Shailee Smith of Plante Moran.

What makes you stand out from your peers or colleagues?: I spent a lot of time, especially in my fellowship, learning the importance of perfecting the balance between staying both humble and hungry. Essentially, I am confident in my abilities and strengths, but also recognize that there are many things that I am still learning and acquiring the skillset for. Understanding your own limitations and feeling comfortable raising your hand when you do not know something is a tough thing to do, but I believe that the self-awareness I have of keeping both in check helps me stand out from my peers.

 

Who needs to know you so you can reach your goals?: The most important person that needs to know you so you can reach your goals is YOU! You have to be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses in both your hard skills and soft skills to move your career forward. You will always, regardless of role, be working on skills in both buckets and they will change over time. But actively reflecting, adapting, and practicing them will help you achieve your goals 10x more than networking will. 

What are your values? (Top 3?)

What’s your ultimate career goal?: To be happy. I know that sounds cheesy, but roles and money do not matter if you are compromising your personal happiness to achieve them. I am a firm believer that if you enjoy what you do and you are happy with the organization that you work for, you will produce great work and the rest will fall into place.

 

Who makes up your support system?: I have an incredible team of family and friends that root for me every day! I also consider my team at work to be a huge support pillar for me. As I have transitioned from industry to consulting, they have been nothing but supportive of my learning and adaptation.

 

What brings you joy?: I find joy in relaxation (reading and crocheting), I love adventure (traveling and exploring new restaurants and coffee shops in Chicago), I love being active (golfing is my favorite sport, hiking, going for bike rides or walks, and yoga classes). However, I am brought the most joy when I am spending quality time with my family and friends!

 

What your superpower – the thing you do better than anyone else?: My superpower is patient access. I have been lucky enough to lead an access center of 80 people to start of my career and it has prompted me to learn a lot. I have been able to leverage that experience to help other hospitals achieve access-focused goals. Knowing that I am contributing to making healthcare more accessible to many communities across the country makes me feel very accomplished!

What’s your favorite way to communicate?: As a former manager, my first question to my employees was always, “how do you best receive communication?” Being able to adapt to the communication styles of others in order for them to really understand my messaging was my favorite way to communication to others. In terms of receiving communication myself, I am very much a visual learner, so I receive communication best by seeing work firsthand before diving in myself.