Mariah Whittaker ePortfolio
Resume Link: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:28136028-6ac9-4f59-8493-ffc7aaced839
About
Hello! I’m Mariah Whittaker and I’m majoring in Health Administration with a minor in Management. Outside of school, I work as a contractor for the DIA while serving as a Reservist with the United States Air Force. I have four children, two girls and two boys, between the ages of 7 and 1 and we currently live in the northern Virginia area. I’m looking forward to completing this semester and graduating in May!
Internship
My internship is with the National Headquarters Biomedical Services Team of the American Red Cross. In this role my job will be to assist in the onboarding, managing new applicants, updating the Volunteer Connection database, interviewing applicants, placing new applicants, and providing support and feedback on processes. Though my preceptor’s physical location is in the Washington, D.C. area, my position virtual with weekly meetings and check-ins.
The American Red Cross began in 1881 and is an organization that provides relief and delivers vital services and support to those in crisis while preparing populations and communities on how to respond to emergencies.
Mission: prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donor
Goal: to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found. Its purpose is to protect life and health and to ensure respect for the human being.
Vision: The American Red Cross, through its strong network of volunteers, donors and partners, is always there in times of need. We aspire to turn compassion into action so that all people affected by disaster across the country and around the world receive care, shelter and hope; our communities are ready and prepared for disasters; everyone in our country has access to safe, lifesaving blood and blood products; all members of our armed services and their families find support and comfort whenever needed; and in an emergency, there are always trained individuals nearby, ready to use their Red Cross skills to save lives.
Preceptor
The name of my preceptor is Yuvraj Bhullar and he has been with the American Red Cross for 5+ years. He has worked many roles within that time, but his current role is working as a Program Partner for the American Red Cross-National Headquarters: Biomedical Services – National Support Team. In this role he conducts interviews, manages the scheduling and calendars for the National Support Team, and provides training and education for new volunteers.
Professional Goals
There are three professional goals that I hope to develop throughout this internship. The first is to gain experience in the Health Administration career field to set me up for success when it is time for me to start applying for jobs. This internship, in addition to my eventual degree, will be my only experience within this career, so I’m looking forward to actually experiencing what I may end up doing in the future. Additionally, healthcare administration is a somewhat broad career field as there are a variety of pathways that I could go down. I’m hoping that my experience throughout this internship will allow me to gain experience in several different aspects of the career field, so that I am able to narrow down what I enjoy the most and where I may fit best. Since this is a hefty career pivot for myself, the experience that I gain during this internship will be invaluable and will go a long way towards finding jobs that will enable me to continue supporting my family while doing something I love.
The second professional goal is to create a professional network. My dad is a big believer in ‘It’s not what you can do, it’s who you know” and, while I’m not sure that’s the case in every aspect of life, I’ve learned that knowing a few people can definitely help in certain situations. This internship has already led me to speaking with multiple people, working in different parts of the company and living in different regions around the world. Networking is a valuable skillset that I plan to hone while working within this position since I have access to so many different people. Building a strong professional network would also allow me to learn from people who have more or different types of experience within the career field while giving me the opportunity to find a mentor who can guide me and help me improve on my journey.
The third professional goal that I hope to develop throughout this internship is gain leadership skills. As previously mentioned, there are many different avenues that a person could take when it comes to finding a job in healthcare administration. As of right now, my goal is to find a management position which means that having strong leadership skills is a must. Being more of an introvert, taking on a leadership role is something that I have struggled with for a long time. However, I believe that this internship being virtual, and fairly heavy on the oversight, it gives me a unique opportunity to have a leadership position without a lot of the pressure and anxiety. The opportunities for lateral movement within the company would also give me the opportunity to gain different leadership techniques from different supervisors and co-workers.