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African-American Career World Magazine, launched in 2001, is the recruitment link between students and professionals who are African American and the employers that seek to hire them. The publication includes career strategies, industry trends, and role-model profiles that target the African-American community.

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 BEYOND THE BEDSIDE

Anne Baye Ericksen
 
The prognosis for healthcare-related careers remains positive
 
The current healthcare landscape is fraught with complexity. There’s the impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, the greater demand for more sophisticated procedures from the aging Baby Boomer generation, and the staffing shortage for certain professionals.
 
Given the circumstances, it’s no wonder healthcare managers are another in-demand specialty. The profession made into the top five of CareerBuilder’s “Hottest Jobs for 2016” list, which reports monthly job postings for medical and health services managers outpace average monthly hires more than five to one.
 
And as the following individuals reveal, the role of healthcare managers is quite varied, from corporate strategy to human resources, technology, and even manufacturing.
 
CARESTREAM HEALTH Imagines Possibilities
 
Of course, the majority of healthcare management jobs center is found in a clinical workplace, but not all. There are ancillary industries that list hospitals, surgical centers, and other practice environments among their clientele, such as Carestream Health (www.carestream.com). Formerly the health group segment of Eastman Kodak, Carestream Health, located in Rochester, NY, is a preeminent producer of medical and dental imaging systems, holding more than 800 patents. And even though she doesn’t have direct contact with patients or clinicians, Kanika F. Wright is still carving out a career in healthcare management.
 
“Honestly, I didn’t think about healthcare when I was pursuing my industrial engineering degree. I don’t think I ever thought about how equipment is used for radiologists to look at x-rays,” she comments. “I would not have known about that technology if I had not found myself in the healthcare group.”
 
Wright began working for Carestream Health immediately after graduating with a degree in industrial manufacturing engineering from Roberts Wesleyan College. Throughout the years, she’s held numerous positions, including floor manager in manufacturing, overseeing safety qualities. As operations export manager, Wright led a transition from a plant in Rochester to a sister site in Shanghai.
 
“When I became equipment manufacturing manager, I had the responsibility of the digital medical products made in x-ray,” she acknowledges.
 
She’s also had the chance to observe a focus group with end-users.
 
“That was an eye-opener for me,” Wright says. “They told us what they were looking for and we had to [figure out how] to build that into our products.”
 
Then approximately nine months ago, Wright transitioned into her current role as continuous improvement manager.
 
“I help provide lean and quality support throughout the company. I’m coaching, mentoring, and training, implementing projects and assisting project leaders with anything related to removing waste and adding quality. It’s the most major shift for me, moving from 10 years in manufacturing to learning the quality perspective,” she explains. “My day is filled with everything from facility events for regulatory issues to streamlining human resources policies. It’s a job where you get a breadth of knowledge and exposure to different areas.”
 
Eventually Wright will rotate out of this temporary leadership training position, and she’s excited how she will next apply her newly gained skills.
 
“I enjoy manufacturing, so I have not closed the door on any opportunity within manufacturing management. For me, though, it works best if I keep my options open,” she says.
 
But Wright is confident her next opportunity will be within Carestream Health.
 
“I definitely think it’s a place that if you are going to work hard and give your best, the opportunities are here,” she concludes.
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