The goals of this assignment are to improve your understanding of issues and topics covered in class, improve your interpersonal communication skills, and enhance your professional development and networking skills. The assignment requires you to imagine interviewing a VHA (Veteran’s Health Administration) employee in Patient Business Services.
Questions to address:
What is it like to be a Patient Business Services employee at the VHA?
What do you like most about your career? Least?
What qualities do you look for in the people you hire?
I want to be a _________. What would you suggest as the best way to prepare for a career in this area?
How do your organizations vision, mission, and values influence your day-to-day operations and management?
In what ways does your organization interact with other government agencies, nonprofit or market/business institutions? Has this changed over time and how do you think it impacts the governance and management of your organization?
What are the most difficult things you face in your organization currently? How are you addressing these?
What do you see are upcoming trends, opportunities, or important issues in the field?
Add other things you would like to ask
Start with a summary of the mentors organization, goal or mission of the organization, mentor designation and their role in the organization (about 1-1.5 pages)
Next, provide an analysis of the findings described in the summary.
Describe how the information you learned from your interviewee relates to readings and concepts covered in the course (be sure to cite readings accordingly) (about 2-3 pages).
Finally, provide a conclusion that reflects on what you learned (a 1 to 2 page). Questions to consider might include:
What were your main takeaways? Did anything surprise you?
What will you do differently after speaking with your interviewee?
Will you maintain contact with your interviewee in the future? Why or why not?
Who else would you still want to talk with in the future?
