Conceptual Relevance of Integrative Studies in a Healthcare Career

This course has been tremendously helpful to anybody anticipating a career in any form of health care or health care-related industries and services. It is obvious that it is no longer sufficient for future health care workers and service providers to study only courses directly related to the actual delivery of health care services. In the modern age of health care, it is essential for professionals in any related field to understand the issues facing patients, health care providers, employers, and other stakeholders. In particular, the Integrative Studies course combines the fields and skills associated with essential aspects of professionalism in general as well as particularly in connection with the safe, ethical, and legally complaint delivery of health care services.

The course provides a comprehensive and very useful overview of the business issues that arise in health care and of the various economic, political, and social forces that determine many of the most relevant variables in that regard. The material outlining economic forces and variables is helpful to any health care professional, especially in light of the current national economic crises and, even more so, because of the direct impact that the continually increasing cost of health care services have had and continue to have on the national economy. With health care costs approaching forty percent of the national gross domestic product and being responsible for such a large percentage of personal bankruptcy filings in the United States, it is impossible to develop an accurate perspective of the realities of health care in the U.S. without an appreciation of the elements and...

In that regard, the Integrative Studies course provides extremely valuable practice in the arts of communicating effectively in a wide range of applications, relationships, and professional contexts.
The course also provides a valuable overview of the manner in which relatively isolated actions can impact much larger segments of the community and even the global environment. In an age of ever-increasing globalization and the greater interconnectedness of health care (and other professional) entities, that awareness and the ability to communicate effectively cannot be overvalued either. Obviously, that awareness and those skills are also essential to the effective marketing of health care services in any medium.

Finally, the other two most valuable aspects of the Integrative Studies course were the exposure and practice to critical thinking skills and to basic elements of personal financial responsibility. Critical thinking is an incredibly important skill in virtually any modern field; it is even more important in health care, especially since modern health care is based on the scientific principles of evidence-based practice. Personal finance issues have become even more important today that they were before, because of the challenges facing current college graduates in terms of finding employment in their fields and because if the need to overcome the other…