Geraldine Fernandez

The best career advice I received was to slow it down. When I was in hospitality it was very fast-paced, especially in Manhattan. When I moved into healthcare, it was like, slow it down. Before you speak, think about what you're saying. Before you act, think about it twice. We need to be more proactive and think before we make the next move, because that next thought or move could make a big difference in somebody's life.

You get a lot of money if you put in a lot of work. I worked my behind off, sometimes two part-time jobs and a full-time job. When you go to a job, give it 100%, or don't do it. Don't do what you don't like because if you don't have passion, you're not going to be successful. Respect the work. Healthcare and hospitality are customer service - we are here to serve people. Act like ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen. As leaders, we need to mentor, coach, educate, and not be scared to bring young folks under our wing.

We have a long way to go to make the experience seamless for our patients. There's so much expected of physicians and teams with so little resources, cut back on staffing, more patient ratio. Doctors see more patients and don't have time to explain or make patients feel cared for. The opportunity is to slow it down, talk in jargon patients understand, sit down with patients, make sure they ask all questions and don't feel rushed, treat them with dignity and respect so they feel safe.

Loyalty and respect are big values. If you don't respect yourself or your patients, that's the name of the game. People need to be treated with dignity and respect, and that's how you get loyalty. In personal life too, like with my mom who has cancer, her doctor has zero bedside manner and uses high-level technical jargon she doesn't understand. We need to meet people where they're at, make them feel safe, and treat them with dignity and respect. Patients are often scared, so remember that.