How Camp Made Claire a Better Pharmacist (and can launch your health care career)

Life After Summer Camp

Do one more summer at camp. It worked for Claire

3 tips from Claire on launching your health care career

Claire was a perfect student. Driven. A's. The opposite of me.

We loved camp together because we were both good at it and it was fun.

My big takeaway from Claire's tips goes beyond healthcare.

Find former camp counselors in the field you think you want to work in. Counselors from any camp, if they still claim camp on their resume you will have a huge leg up.

Write this short email -

"I am a future INSERT JOB ROLE HERE.

I loved working at summer camp and learned a ton. I 100% believe camp will help me be a better INSERT JOB ROLE HERE.

You have already done it. Can I ask you about how you translated camp to INSERT JOB ROLE HERE for 20 minutes?"

Send 10 of these emails.

I hope you are incredible!

Jack

Claire and I at camp in 2010 with "Dumpster Cat"TIPS FROM CLAIRE

Hi!

I’m Claire Burke, current Pharmacist and former camp counselor.

Some would say that camp is a vital part of who I am… and they’d be correct. (I even met my now husband at camp!)

I went to summer camp as a kid starting at age 7. I was the homesick camper who cried myself to sleep every night, but that didn’t keep me away! By age 11 I was (mostly) over homesickness and went on to work on staff at Camp Stella Maris on Conesus Lake in upstate NY for six glorious summers. Many years later, I am now on the Board of Directors.

I knew from a young age that I wanted to work in healthcare. I liked that pharmacy had a clear career path and was a little less “hands on” than being a medical doctor.

After graduating pharmacy school, I worked a few years as a pediatric pharmacist in a large hospital and got my Masters in Medical Management. When I moved into my current role as Assistant Director of Pharmacy Operations, I really found my niche.

I get to use my leadership skills, implement new technology, analyze data, and improve efficiency and safety for drug distribution within the hospital. It is satisfying to know I can still make an impact on patient care, just from a different aspect.

So… how does this healthcare job relate to camp? Great question!

I wasn’t too sure at first either.

I distinctly remember Jack convincing me to come back to camp for *one last summer* instead of doing an internship… and I am so thankful he did!

Here are some tips if you’re considering a career in healthcare:

Tip 1: Know your strengths!

There are so many avenues you can follow in healthcare. Once you decide this is where you want to be, use your strengths to figure out where you fit best.

In pharmacy, for example, there are career paths you just don’t hear about - pharmacy informatics, medication safety, compounding - there might be something outside the typical path that would be a great fit for your unique skills and interests.

Tip 2: Keep camp on your resume.

Some people might disagree with this, but having experience as a camp counselor on your resume tells me (as a hiring manager) so many things about you. Of course, I am a camp person, so you might have to do some story telling for the non-camp people. Here are some ideas for talking about camp in an interview:

Think of situations at camp that demonstrate all it taught you… how to creatively problem solve, how to be decisive, how to resolve conflict, how to be self-aware, how to work on a team, how to be a leader amongst your peers… and then how you will apply that to the position you are applying for.

Describe the different positions you held at camp and the responsibility they entailed. Taking on tasks like planning staff training or giving feedback is something not a lot of recent graduates or college students have.

Show your passion! This is something that will set you apart from other candidates.

SIDE NOTE FROM JACK:

Claire made me think of this. I just searched "Summer Camp Pharmacy" on LinkedIn and found 10 people working in pharmacy that also worked at a summer camp.

Do this for the kind of job you want "Summer camp - JOB YOU WANT" - do a little research to email those people. You will get a way higher response rate.

Tip 3: Stay connected and take initiative.

Just like camp, the healthcare world is a very interconnected community. Networking is incredibly valuable.

Talk to people, find out what they do, and ask questions. Most people are more than willing to talk about what they do and even have you shadow them for a day if you want to find out more.

The more information and experiences you have, the better prepared you will be to make decisions about your career.