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Sonja McDonald's
experience with the Professional Development Institute has made her more aware
of how she impacts the patients and visitors who she interacts with. |
PDI Profile: Sonja McDonald
Name: Sonja McDonald
Current Position: Advanced Health Unit Coordinator in the Neonatal Unit, Duke University Hospital
Tenure at Duke: 17 years
Before coming to Duke: Sonja worked in customer service and retail (from age 20).
Education: Sonja attended North Carolina Central University and Alabama State University.
Meet Sonja: Sonja's upbeat and positive attitude is hard to miss. She always seems to be smiling, despite her struggles. Sonja is a third shift employee, working from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., three nights a week. She began working night shifts after having her first child so she could stay with her daughter during the day while her husband worked. Sonja planned to switch to a day job before her son was born, but then the family discovered that he had Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism.
Although her son is now 11, he still has special needs which require Sonja's attention. She likes being at home to get him ready for school and to meet him in the afternoons. Sonja also spends two days a week volunteering at her son's school as a classroom assistant. While her son is becoming more independent, Sonja still requires a flexible work schedule
-- one of the main reasons she's remained at Duke.
Sonja said she'd been interested in pursuing some type of professional development for a while. She heard about Duke's Professional Development Institute's Office Staff Development Program several years ago from her coworkers, but at the time, she was not eligible for the program because it was not open to level 6 employees like her. But now it is, and Sonja jumped at the chance to enroll.
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"I deal with customers
all the time," Sonja said. "I've learned what to do and what not to do. I'm the
first person everybody sees when they come into my unit ... it doesn't matter if
I'm having a bad day, I have to do my best to help my customers and make their
day better."
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She said she's able to relate to the course lessons because they are practical and applicable. She was excited about a recent lesson on customer service because it made her more aware of how she impacts the patients and visitors who she interacts with.
"I deal with customers all the time," Sonja said. "I've learned what to do and what not to do. I'm the first person everybody sees when they come into my unit
... it doesn't matter if I'm having a bad day, I have to do my best to help my customers and make their day better."
Sonja has also enjoyed learning about business writing, communication, and marketing herself to potential employers. She said she now pays greater attention to the way she speaks and writes e-mails so that she comes across more professionally.
She said she's become more confident of herself and feels less anxious about working with other professionals, but she still feels like a greater change is needed.
"I like what I do, but I can close my eyes and do my job from home ... that's why I know I need to try something different," Sonja said. "I want to broaden my skills and go in a new direction."
She's not sure yet what direction that will be. She hopes the internship portion of the Office Staff Development Program will help her decide. The instructors encourage students to intern in a department or area that they have not worked in before.
At least Sonja has until February to decide on an internship.
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Ernest
"D.J." Burroughs
