Personal Dilemma- Urban or Rural service?

[J306]

Thank you everyone for your advice... I was feeling pretty overwhelmed for a while and I'm glad to be involved in a community where so many people are willing to offer such helpful input!

I've decided to stick it out rural and take some vacation time in March to volunteer at some hospitals and clinics in Nicaragua to gain a perspective on health care and hopefully pick up some Spanish. (Has anybody here been there and done this?)

As for school, I have considered venturing to other provinces to get my education; however, I looked at the cost/benefit of doing this, and since ACP is being offered at my hometown, I can stay with family and challenege the provincial exams if I choose to move.

Oh and my former employer up north has offered me a management position for when I complete my ACP, so it seems everything is falling into place!

[BEorP]

Good choice! It looks like you got good advice here and came in with a good perspective.

Just some unsolicited advice since it seems like you'd be receptive. Make sure that if you don't have formal management training, that you start to get some if you're going to be in a management position. ACP is clinical education, not management training, yet for some reason we often seem to require ACP as a prerequisite for management positions rather than formal training in management. There are a number of options for online diplomas and certificates, depending on how far you want to go with it. This may even be something that you could work towards online while working rural to help keep you busy at work.

Just to throw two options out there that were the first to come to mind:

http://xweb.algonquincollege.com/woodroffe/program.aspx?query=6040X07PWO

http://www.dal.ca/academics/programs/diploma/ehsm.html

[paramedicmike]

Sounds like a solid plan. All the best for a successful end result!

[J306]

Funny you say that! Man, that post actually made me feel for the first time that I didn't waste my time doing this, but before I got accepted into the EMT program I had the foresight to complete my business certificate and then completed a semester of my Human Resource Management Diploma befoe taking off for the fall intake of the EMT course. Currently taking an online class and which ends April and another April til June which will then give me my HRM certificate! (only 3 classes shy of diploma)

[BEorP]

Funny you say that! Man, that post actually made me feel for the first time that I didn't waste my time doing this, but before I got accepted into the EMT program I had the foresight to complete my business certificate and then completed a semester of my Human Resource Management Diploma befoe taking off for the fall intake of the EMT course. Currently taking an online class and which ends April and another April til June which will then give me my HRM certificate! (only 3 classes shy of diploma)

Well done! That is not a waste of time at all. We need managers who have been educated in management. If someone makes you feel like it was a waste of time, it is probably just because they wish that they had done it! Keep us updated on how your career progresses. Maybe I'll come work for you in a few years when you're a manager!

[mobey]

ACP is clinical education, not management training, yet for some reason we often seem to require ACP as a prerequisite for management positions rather than formal training in management.

Quoted for truth factor