Purpose
Today, I've been reflecting a lot on purpose. Perhaps it was because my day started off with learning about organizational missions, visions, and values. Purpose is often something I struggle with. What am I here for? What am I about?
This was compounded at work today. My past jobs - while good experiences - never created a sense of purpose in me. I never felt like what I was doing was ever really that important to anyone. Sure, I helped people get jobs (very indirectly), I helped entertain people, I furthered the cause of academia, and threw a lot of good parties. Sure, these things had purpose to them, but I didn't feel as if it was a purpose worth devoting my life to.
I attended a lunch seminar today about doctor-administrative relations. Anyone in healthcare can tell you that the relationship between the physicians and the administrators is very rarely positive and productive. This hospital CEO told us that we have to be reminded that the physicians purpose is the take care of that one patient at that specific time. Administrators' purpose is to focus on the community and be sure that the help is available. So that got my brain cranking a bit.
Anyway, I go into work today as always. My boss was out of the office, so I was working by myself for a significant amount of time anyway - which really gets my brain juices going. But then, I ended up having to explain why the project I was working on was important to the hospital a couple of times. Without going into the details about the project, what it's all about is patients! Yes, I am working on something that could potentially help save a person's life - or at the very least, prevent something from interfering with a physicians attempts to treat a patient. I think I like the healthcare industry because one's purpose is clear - no matter what position you hold - your purpose is to help provide the best patient care. It's a tie that bonds us all together. It's something everyone understands.
I often wonder what I should be learning through all of this. I question what God is doing very often. I still do not understand what He wants my purpose to be. I'm not sure that I ever will. But I am comforted - almost excited even - that I am beginning to take hold of some purpose in my life.
This was compounded at work today. My past jobs - while good experiences - never created a sense of purpose in me. I never felt like what I was doing was ever really that important to anyone. Sure, I helped people get jobs (very indirectly), I helped entertain people, I furthered the cause of academia, and threw a lot of good parties. Sure, these things had purpose to them, but I didn't feel as if it was a purpose worth devoting my life to.
I attended a lunch seminar today about doctor-administrative relations. Anyone in healthcare can tell you that the relationship between the physicians and the administrators is very rarely positive and productive. This hospital CEO told us that we have to be reminded that the physicians purpose is the take care of that one patient at that specific time. Administrators' purpose is to focus on the community and be sure that the help is available. So that got my brain cranking a bit.
Anyway, I go into work today as always. My boss was out of the office, so I was working by myself for a significant amount of time anyway - which really gets my brain juices going. But then, I ended up having to explain why the project I was working on was important to the hospital a couple of times. Without going into the details about the project, what it's all about is patients! Yes, I am working on something that could potentially help save a person's life - or at the very least, prevent something from interfering with a physicians attempts to treat a patient. I think I like the healthcare industry because one's purpose is clear - no matter what position you hold - your purpose is to help provide the best patient care. It's a tie that bonds us all together. It's something everyone understands.
I often wonder what I should be learning through all of this. I question what God is doing very often. I still do not understand what He wants my purpose to be. I'm not sure that I ever will. But I am comforted - almost excited even - that I am beginning to take hold of some purpose in my life.
posted by Eric Young at
11:15 PM
3 Comments:
I think you are quaintly idealistic when it comes to the healthcare industry. Doctors and hospitals may be concerned with trying to provide the best care for patients, but the HMOs are trying to provide the *cheapest* care for patients. And in the end, it's often the HMOs that control the strings.
By
Courtney, at 5:00 PM
Well, the post was supposed to be idealistic. :-) I was hoping that a few others would comment before I did, but I doubt that'll happen, so I'll add something. While your point is one that most people would make, it really doesn't apply in the context I was using. But, I'll take the bait anyway. I'd argue that it *is* the purpose of the insurance company (HMOs aren't nearly as popular as they were in the 90s) is still to provide the best care possible. The difference is that they have to do it for a large population. So their purpose is to figure out the best way to distribute financial resources in order to maximize health in the population it represents. (Of course, I could write a 20 page paper on either side these days) ;-)
By
Eric Young, at 11:55 PM
I only argue from experience - I refuse to use an HMO because of the endless string of problems I had in HS/college - including being forced to drive an hour to Charlottesville to see a GI specialist because my HMO wouldn't cover the doctor 5 minutes down the road and seeing my prescription drug co-pay go up so much over 4 years that by the time I graduated I was paying for nearly everything out-of-pocket (granted, I was a fairly healthy 21 year-old, but it still adds up). There were also a lot of billing issues that I won't go into.
By
Courtney, at 8:10 AM
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