SPEAKER’S CORNER: Dr. Padma Arvind Demystifies New Jersey’s Healthcare Industry

Speaker's Corner

By Kam Minhasnjhealth_logo
Dr. Padma Arvind, Director of the Healthcare Talent Network at Rutgers University of New Jersey, presented opportunities in the healthcare industry in her November 12 presentation to PSGCNJ members.
“Healthcare jobs” are major buzz words in today’s unemployment landscape. One sector of the economy that is changing rapidly and witnessing increased growth, healthcare workforce expansion is anticipated to be ten to 25 % over the next ten years. Healthcare is the only industry that continues to grow at an annual rate of 2.4 %, even during economic downturn and recession.
Launched in 2011 by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Healthcare Talent Network, funded by the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development and based at Rutgers’ School of Management and Labor Relations, integrates information from employers about their workforce needs with data from market analysis in order to strengthen the capacity of the workforce to have the skills to match the industry’s jobs, now and in the next ten years. A second part of the Healthcare Talent Network’s mission is to assist job seekers in connecting to workforce and education services.
Get involved with a healthcare organization:
Volunteering is an avenue for candidates with transferable skills—with or without healthcare experience—to network and find career prospects. Dr. Arvind suggested the following organizations as good opportunities for job seekers to provide their services:

  • Community Outreach Programs (Robert Wood Johnson and St. Peter’s Hospital have community outreach programs)
  • New Jersey Medical Reserves Corps: https://njmrc.nj.gov/hcpr/index.html#
  •  Healthcare coalitions (Cancer, Mental Health)
  • New Jersey Department of Healthcare (opportunities are also available by county)
  • Hospital sponsored event (calendars found on hospital websites): http://www.barnabashealthcalendar.org/Events

Dr. Arvind’s office hosts on-line network forum and hosts job postings at http://www.hctn-nj.org/.
Dr. Padma Arvind holds a Ph.D. in molecular immunology from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and an MBA in Marketing and Strategic Planning from Rutgers Graduate School of Management. Before assuming the directorship of the Healthcare Talent Network of New Jersey, she was a Public Health Planner and Chair of the Community Health Policy Planning and Development arm of the American Public Health Association. Link up with Dr. Arvind at www.linkedin.com/pub/padma–arvind/18/565/768 or by email at Padma.arvind@work.rutgers.edu.

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