You want to return to school to advance in your profession. Financially you cannot do it at this time. Respond to the following:
Would you consider working for the National Service Corps for financial compensation in another area, another community, or in a designated poverty area? Why or why not?
If you accepted a position in another area that was unfamiliar to you, how would you prepare in advance to make the most out of the opportunity? Include the social and cultural aspects of the differences. Would you consider working in one of these areas permanently?
Since this is a personal question, this may serve as your guide in making a decision or choice regarding the question. National Health Service Corps are known for providing scholarships or financial assistance in exchange of for services, particularly in providing health care services to rural or underserved areas, or to underprivileged community. The following are the pros and cons in serving in another area or poverty areas:
Pros:
1. There is pleasure in serving other people. Seeing that people from rural areas experience health care and satisfied with the services you provide is a good achievement on your part. It is an opportunity to do public service and inspire others.
2. You will meet new people and friends. Working on a different place would also help you develop good relationship with others. Friendship may be developed with people situated in these areas which may be beneficial for you.
3. It will develop your skills and knowledge. Being able to work on a place not familiar with you is a challenging one but it will help you to apply and improve your skills and knowledge which you learned to school.
4. It will also help your personal development. By being away from the place you grow up and used to, will help you discover more about yourself and more about your plans in life. It is a great opportunity to know more about what you really want in life.
Cons:
1. You may have culture shock since the environment will be new to you. You are not familiar with their lifestyle and culture and this may pose an issue to you.
2. Flexibility is required. Since these areas usually lacks sufficient number of healthcare workers, you must be required to work all around. You will not just treat a specific disease or assist a specific patient in the area, but you will have to help, assist and treat different kinds of people, be it adult, teens, or infants. You are also expected to know adequate amount of almost every aspect of medicine. You will be exposed to injuries or diseases which you rarely encounter in the city, such as those caused by agricultural activities like farming or wildlife. This implies that your job is exhausting.
3. There is poor community health. Residents in these areas have only limited healthcare interactions therefore, many of them suffers from poor nutrition and unhealthy lifestyle. As a healthcare provider, you must be prepared to address many patients.
4. You would most likely become homesick. Since you are working far from your home, you will miss your family and friends most of the time which may affect your performance in work.
The following are the things you need to do if you accepted a position in another area that was unfamiliar to you:
First is to make a research about the place you would be staying and working on. Learn the differences and culture they have. It is important that you know the basic things such as their way of living there. Most likely, the culture and custom they have is different from the place you grew up with. There may be things which are allowed in your city but prohibited in their place. By knowing those things, you would be able to know what are the necessary things you could bring with you there and also the things you should avoid doing or exhibiting there. By educating yourself, you would be able to have a meaningful stay in their place because you would be able to handle their differences without any conflict or pressure.
Another thing you should be prepare is how you would deal with language barriers. Be sure to have materials with you that will help you communicate with the people there. You may maximize technology by downloading on your phone applications which helps one in communicating with different language.
Also, be socially and culturally aware of the place. Always be sensitive to their culture. Avoid doing things which would offend them. Be friendly and open to them once you get there. You may only be able to do that if you are prepared enough. What you can do is to know the current happenings in their area so that you will not be left behind or feel out of place when you get there. For example, if they are currently celebrating a specific fest or event, researching about the event, or being updated with it will help you deal with it and live with it.
The last question is also a personal question. By using the pros and cons provided above, decide whether you feel working in that place will be more beneficial to you and your career. You may also weigh the pros and cons. Working there permanently will be a big decision to make so make sure that you weigh in the available options.
While at the beginning it may be challenging to work with that place since it is new to you and you are not familiar with their culture, tradition, and customs. you may also want to consider whether you already have adopted such differences and you can handle them without any problems anymore. Think of all the advantages of working them and also the disadvantages. After evaluating and assessing, you can now come up with the best decision.
References used:
https://www.apa.org/advocacy/workforce-development/nhsc
https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2019/01/the-pros-and-cons-of-practicing-medicine-in-a-rural-setting.html
https://www.waldenu.edu/online-masters-programs/master-of-science-in-nursing/resource/pros-and-cons-of-public-health-nursing-in-rural-and-urban-areas
https://www.yearon.com/blog/preparing-for-culture-shock