I have just finished up week 6 of my fellowship at The Village at Rockville (TVAR) with 2 weeks left to go. It’s rather surreal. Yesterday feels like my first day, yet I’ve learned so much since then. Admittedly, the first several weeks were quite difficult. I tried to be optimistic, but a huge part of me felt like a failure. I struggled to communicate effectively with my supervisor and thus I didn’t know what was required of me, let alone when or how I should go about doing it. That being said, I knew deep down that this experience was stretching me in the best way. 

A big part of this discomfort, I think, was transitioning from an educational setting to a work setting. As someone who has always felt comfortable in school, adjusting to work life was uncomfortable to say the least. As an illustration, in school, you’re assigned with projects with clear instructions and deadlines. You go to class for a set period of time then have free time to study, go to extracurriculars, or work a part-time job. The 9-5 life, on the other hand, is entirely different. For starters, there’s the 8 hour block staring at a computer screen with the occasional lunch and 10-minute break. Then there’s meeting your coworkers, figuring out who can act as a mentor when you have a question (I always have a lot), and learning how to ask the right questions. To succeed, I had to become much better at a variety of things I did not previously have to do (e.g. constantly following up, strategizing how to improve communication, taking intentional breaks, guiding a conversation in the right direction). While this led to several uncomfortable “growth” weeks, I am finally starting to feel more comfortable in my shoes. Further, I have realized this experience is only the tip of the iceberg; the beginning of figuring out what I want my life to look like after I finish graduate school. 

In addition to helping me improve my soft skills and adapt to work culture, this fellowship has helped me realize some new interests. You see, going into this summer, I was dead set on working at The Village at Orchard (or TVOR as they call it). I wanted to be on the clinical side, helping to set up a clinic at that location. With the onset of COVID-19, however, my plans changed. Suddenly, TVOR was unable to take me on remotely, and I was moved to TVAR. Although I was hesitant at first (the role seemed to business-y to me), I have since surprised myself by thoroughly enjoying the big picture work I get to do. For example, I have gotten to work on TVAR’s master plan (aka what they want their organization to look like in the next 5-10 years) and their strategic plan (smaller goals that help drive the master plan). This work has helped me understand the complexity, time, and effort that goes into an organization’s future and the challenging decisions that must be made. It’s also given me the opportunity to work with a bunch of the senior leadership team (directors of marketing, nursing, dining, sales, and philanthropy, just to name a few). As a result of these experiences, I’ve started considering the ways in which business shapes health care (and vice versa), and I’ve been hoping that some of my health policy courses will touch on this. Anyway, this is just a little bit about what I have been up to this summer, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Overall, this experience has been both challenging and unexpected, but also extremely rewarding and enlightening!