A Career Map Assignment

A person’s interests, passions, and occasionally life events all have a role in the decision of what vocation to pursue. Most of the time, students enroll in college courses that would prepare them for the careers they plan to pursue after graduation. My decision to pursue a career was substantially affected by a job I held prior to enrolling in college.

I want to work as a case manager once I graduate. According to the 2017 article “Case Manager Job Description - How to Become a Case Manager,” case managing comprises assisting people in getting through challenging situations. To be a successful case manager, a person needs to be empathic and capable of critical thought. Professionals in this career are also known as social service assistants. They offer advice which can solve other people’s problems. This job primarily entails figuring out the type of help to offer people, assist them in getting the services they may need, develop a treatment or recovery plan, coordinate with other human service providers or health workers, and keep track of their client’s progress according to the outlined treatment plans. As a Case Manager, one can work for or together with psychologists, social workers, or health and human service authorities. A Case Manager works with different situations of human lives (“Case Manager Job Description,” 2017). One can work with families, children, people with disabilities, mentally ill persons, senior citizens, those recovering from addiction, immigrants, the homeless, and ex-offenders.

As mentioned above, a Case Manager is responsible for providing care to the client. It involves the assessment of treatment needs, creating, monitoring, and evaluating the progress of an established treatment plan. Furthermore, one is also required to facilitate interdisciplinary approaches and monitor the performance of staff. I developed an interest in this career after working with a rehabilitation center for a couple of months. I felt sorry for the patients at the center where I worked and I realized that they need much more care than we can imagine. Although the job is not paid highly as compared to other positions like corporate management, the satisfaction that I get from helping other people to go back to their healthy life is satisfactory enough to call it a successful career. During my occupation at the center, I worked closely with my supervisor to help a few patients recover from alcohol addiction. I was surprised and happy to notice that I shared the joy of helping people with my commanding officer. After deciding to take this career path, I left the center to continue my studies, comprehending that I need to acquire the appropriate knowledge to make a successful career. Social studies correlate the most to the position that I am interested in, and the following three disciplines can significantly contribute to my future career in case management.

Sociology

Sociology is concerned with the study of the worth of being a member of a particular society. It entails critical analyses of the various social structures and social connections that make up society (Zevallos, 2009). Sociology investigates the reasons for forming specific institutes that shape the community, which therefore, will assist me to deeply explore the ideas for creating social service centers, the significance of social services, and how to improve such services to make positive changes in the society. Sociology will help me to study social experiences and challenging situations that people undergo. People with sane minds can comprehend their problems in relation to their personal lives and the history of the world. However, such comprehension is gone when someone loses their mind during stressful situations. Through sociological imagination, I can help them to make connections between their problems and their biographical history, such as the place of birth, and find appropriate treatment plans.

Psychology

Psychology plays the most prominent role in the career of a Case Manager. The discipline is defined as a scientific study of behavior and mind, which embraces the aspects of conscious as well as unconscious experiences (Smith, Schwebel, Dunn, & McIver, 2007). Psychology is a social science which is my major, and I consider it to have a direct impact on my career. Helping people involves understanding them first. Such understanding entails studying their minds and behavior to comprehend specific problems from which I can create a treatment plan. Like other scientists, psychologists also keep track of their tests to make conclusions for future references. The discipline will provide me with the approaches and procedures to studying people’s mind and behavior to get the right observations. Psychology will also offer me the skills of interacting with clients to create positive rapport and enhance open communications. There is no other discipline better than psychology that provides case managers with the ability to study clients and make correct observations.

Gerontology

Gerontology is the study of older adults and the process of aging, which deals with problems of aged people (”Gerontology USC,“ 2017). The discipline has a broad scope that covers the biological, social, and psychological elements of aging. It is narrowed Case Management which focuses only on problems associated with aging. As a Case Manager who intends to help clients of various ages, I will find gerontology very helping in understanding the issues of aged people that enable me to offer them the assistance they need without hassles. In‑depth knowledge in gerontology will also allow me to work comfortably in nursing homes. There are many elderly people in nursing homes that need help as much as those in rehabilitation centers and hospitals for mentally ill persons. The idea of helping aged people is equally an essential and satisfying social service like any other.

Conclusion

Considering the area of study that I am currently taking in my undergraduate studies and the feeling of self-satisfaction that I had while working in the rehabilitation center, I am confident that I have chosen the career path that is suitable for me. The three supplementary disciplines, psychology, sociology, and gerontology, will offer me the adequate knowledge that I will need to succeed in my career.

References

Case Manager Job Description - How to Become a Case Manager | Snagajob. (2017). Snagajob.com. Retrieved from https://www.snagajob.com/job-descriptions/case-manager/

Case Manager Job Description | Monster.com. (2017). Monster Hiring Resource Center. Retrieved from https://hiring.monster.com/hr/hr-best-practices/recruiting-hiring-advice/job-descriptions/case-manager-job-description-sample.aspx

Psychology Case Manager Salary and Career Profile – Florida Tech Online. (2017). Florida Tech Online. Retrieved from https://www.floridatechonline.com/blog/psychology/psychology-case-manager-salary-and-career-profile/

Smith, G., Schwebel, A., Dunn, R., & McIver, S. (2007). Role of Psychologists in the Treatment, Management, Psychosocial.com. Retrieved from http://www.psychosocial.com/psr/psr1.html

What Is Gerontology? | Gerontology USC. (2017). Gerontology.usc.edu. Retrieved from http://gerontology.usc.edu/resources/articles/what-is-gerontology/

Zevallos, Z. (2009). What is Applied Sociology?. Sociology At Work. Retrieved from http://www.sociologyatwork.org/about/what-is-applied-sociology/