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Career Development in Global Mental Health |
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Tuesday, 24 October, 2006 |
Although few resources exist to help guide you through a career in global mental health, specifically, numerous resources exist for those interested in global health work. You may want to start with the following two books.
O’Neil, Edward. 2006. A Practical Guide to Global Health Service, American Medical Association.
This text can be ordered along with its companion text at www.ama-assn.org Osborn & Ohmans. 2005. Finding Work in Global Health. St. Paul, MN: Health Advocates Press.
This text can be ordered at the Global Health Council web site: http://www.globalhealth.org/.
The following bullet points will help to stimulate and focus your thinking as you consider a global mental health career.
- What do you mean by global mental health?
Are you interested in working outside of your country? Is your primary goal to establish collegial relationships with mental health workers and professionals around the world? What aspect of international work appeals to you? Do you envision yourself conducting clinical research, providing clinical care, developing health services, doing advocacy, or developing policy? Before you start to think globally, review what your interests are locally. What excites you about mental health?
Spend some time thinking about what you hope to accomplish through global work. This will help you to clarify your goals, which will help determine what path you take. Frequent motivations include altruism, career advancement, cutting edge work, adventure, cross-cultural experience, skill enhancement, religion, money, politics, escapism, personal growth, learning experience, and retirement (Osborn & Ohmans, 2005).
- Get a mentor (or several)!
One purpose of this site is to help you find mentors who can help you navigate your career. Why do you need a mentor? A mentor can help you design a feasible map that leads you to your desired career goals; introduce you to professional and informal networks; and help you to find opportunities to step into the work you’d like to do sooner than you may be able to manage on your own.
Many professionals have multiple mentors. You may feel more comfortable discussing your research interests with a mentor, but not your personal life. Your personal life (relationship obligations, desires) should be one of the factors you prioritize as you design your career map. Find mentors with whom you can discuss these issues, too.
You want to be useful wherever you plan to work. Make sure that your professional skills are sharp. Gather other skills as well—especially language skills. Multilingual mental health workers are valuable in many parts of the world. Learn a new language or invest in maintaining or improving your existing foreign language skills.
Recognize that few people have linear career paths these days. Even fewer people who work in global health have linear career paths. Pay attention to which of your skills are transferable. Be open to opportunities that can move you closer to your goal.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 24 October, 2006 )
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