Here's how you can transition into teaching or academia using your healthcare expertise.

I always enjoyed the teaching aspect of my clinical role. However, in those days there was no funding for Practice Educators or a Matron post, so I combined an educational role with my management role. Moving into Higher Education, I was enabled to complete a Post Graduate teaching and Learning qualification and then moved onto study for a MSc. However, my learning has not stopped there, for the pursuit of knowledge is constant. My lengthy experience in the clinical environment has been a useful acquisition to have and use when teaching students.

Making a move from expertise in healthcare to academia needs strategic planning and preparation. This major shift requires a wider range of skills, a greater commitment to education, and research in addition to a change in the work environment. It demands a dedication to lifelong study, the mastery of efficient teaching techniques, and familiarity with the academic environment. Improving communication abilities, accepting flexibility, and fostering a love of continual learning are all part of building a strong foundation. Through diligently developing the required skills and mindset, people associated with healthcare expertise can successfully make the shift into academics with a purpose.

On paper all this sounds reasonable and good but subject matter specialists have a tough time relating to methods classes as they are long on procedures and short on relevance to one’s field of study. I have taken one such class (with other specialists) for teaching at the community college from a major scholar in the field and those who took it with me agree that the class is a test of one’s perseverance and attentiveness. No department head in other disciplines encourages prospective instructors to take such a class since it may discourage entry into the teaching profession.

When I was nursing, I wanted a post in academia. I made myself known to my academic colleagues, offering to take a lecture or lead a seminar on Nursing. I also organised teaching sessions with and for my ward colleagues. I did this for several years. As well as this I published a number of papers on aspects of mental health care. I left clinical work to become an academic. It was a good move!

I disagree! I’ve been teaching for 20 years and I am on the verge of leaving education as it has become like most of our public services a commercial enterprise. Like all jobs or roles, try before you buy! I never thought for a million years I’d be an educator and have 2 teaching qualifications; and carried out whilst teaching. You can learn on the job, which is brilliant but harder. Your knowledge is in your head, you must learn how to relay that knowledge to some one else using your personal skills, and some practical learning and application. Education is now a business like all of our utilities and that’s why people are leaving. A carpenter charges to fit a door for a price; in education they want you to build the whole house for less!

It is quite possible to transition into a teaching position by following some important guidelines: 1. Preparation: Besides the required knowledge and credentials, one should adequately prepare the content by focusing on the syllabus for a specific course as well as the specific learning objectives for each lecture. 2. Organization: The key for effective teaching is to organize and sequence the presentation in a manner that addresses the specific learning objectives for each lecture. 3. Less is more: It is more effective to limit the scope of each lecture to its learning objectives and cover the key concepts rather than cover every single detail. This emphasis allows the students to focus on key take-home lessons from the lectures.

Teaching has been a second career for me. Teaching is the greatest profession of all. I have loved every minute in the classroom. Think how many students you can have a positive effect on their lives. Leave no student go unnoticed