Health Career Panels With a Twist: Role-Reversal Q&As With Professionals

Emily Wolf
12 minutes ago
4 min read

I’m sure that at some point, each of you has either heard about or even been a part of guest speaker sessions or traditional health career panels with health professionals. Sometimes, although it's unfortunate, students may find these sessions to be boring; that's why it's critical to understand why health career panels may be a better alternative with their interactivity, personal connection, and opportunity to steer the conversations.

Now, instead of thinking about those traditional health career panels or guest speaker sessions, I want you to imagine a panel where students are the ones asking the questions, engaging with the professionals, and asking them about things they’re truly interested in. The professionals have the opportunity to share their personal experiences and knowledge that relate to the specific question, which genuinely interests the students.

In a role-reversal panel, as opposed to the prepared speeches, students lead the discussion. Students design the entire Q&A instead of reserving a small section of time for questions at the end of the visit.

For example, in my genetics class, we spoke with a genetic counselor in an engaging manner where we had preprepared questions for the counselor and were able to discuss the aspects of the career on a day-to-day basis, as well as some fascinating experiences relating to the steps in how she became a counselor. Similarly, Indiana HOSA held a panel for possible state officer candidates to learn more about the roles, responsibilities, and specifics of being a state officer.

On this board were several presidents and vice presidents from past years who were able to share advice. Although this wasn’t technically about healthcare, students asked questions about balancing work, school, etc., with the duties of being a state officer.

I hope I’ve established the effectiveness of role-reversal Q&A panels for you, but if not, let’s look at the research. A 2008 study published by the Educational Research Review found that students asking the questions improves conceptual understanding, critical thinking, and long-term memory. Another study done in 1999 for the Administrative Science Quarterly proves that less hierarchy encourages honest discussion and improves learning outcomes. Role-reversal panels do exactly that; they intentionally reduce hierarchy between students and professionals.

Next, let’s look at how we can create an ideal environment for a successful role-reversal Q&A panel with health professionals. The first step is reaching out to and getting confirmation from local health professionals who would be interested in speaking at your chapter. For tips and guidelines on reaching out, feel free to read a blog I’ve written about setting up guest speaker sessions.

The one additional thing to mention when reaching out to professionals is the unique nature of these panels. Most healthcare professionals are used to being asked to bring a prepared presentation with Q&A at the end of the guest speaker session, so be sure to clarify the nature of this panel. Additionally, if you are having multiple professionals in a single panel, be sure to let them know their fellow panelists and even introduce them to each other if they don’t know each other.

Beyond reaching out to the health professional, it is critical to have the students in your chapter actually prepare questions ahead of time. Oftentimes, if you throw your members into a session without having contextualized who’s on the panel and their purpose, it can lead to a drought of questions. Typically, this phenomenon is due to the idea of evaluation apprehension, where people feel anxiety about being judged negatively by others. I’m sure you’ve been in a class where a teacher asks a question, and no one raises their hand. This same issue can arise if you don’t communicate clearly with your members.

First, “contextualize” or explain the background of these professionals well ahead of the panel session. That way, students can research the professionals' backgrounds and not be surprised when they arrive at the meeting. Secondly, require students to submit prepared questions for the panelist session. This may seem restricting and unfair, but it shouldn’t truly be difficult if the students are interested in pursuing a career in healthcare. Furthermore, because you gave them the background and the career title of the panelists, they can draft specific questions that personally interest them.

While questions aren’t exclusively in these categories, it’s best to ask experience-based questions such as “What is the hardest and best part of your job?” or reflective questions like “What surprised you most when you first became ___?” However, the best types of questions are often open-ended questions that give the panelists opportunities to give a unique answer that cannot simply be looked up. The most important thing to do when reviewing questions submitted by students is to ensure that they aren’t questions that can simply be looked up online. For example, asking, “What’s the average income of your health profession?” or “What does the schooling look like for your career?” are fairly easy to research online. A more effective question regarding education could be, “What was your path or route to your career?” This allows the professional to share their personal career timeline.

Looking ahead, role-reversal healthcare panels are an effective and undervalued way to explore careers. They can be adapted for virtual settings and interdisciplinary discussions where students receive unique information that can’t be found online, and panelists are encouraged to share more about their noble careers as well as give back to the community. So, remember: the next time you want to facilitate career exploration opportunities for your members, consider making a simple guest speaker session into a role-reversal Q&A panel.