What do you think are the most important qualities to possess in order to thrive in the medical field / business world ?

Hello!

Congratulations on all your achievements thus far. What an exciting adventure ahead! Professionally, I would say prepare yourself by staying on top of the trends in your business, especially the "need" areas so that you can address those as part of your service and value when the time comes. I'd also suggest networking/keeping connections in your industry by joining organizations and trying to attend occasional events.

Personally, valuable soft skills always in demand are time/organization management, communication, collaborative spirit, value and respect. If you are planning on starting your own business, there are many resources that will help you and give you the right steps to starting out right. Check out SBA.gov -- great resource for any small business, which will help guide you in terms of the right steps, planning/process and legal permits/licenses, etc you might need. I would definitely focus on VALUE. What will you be offering that nobody else has? What needs will you be fulfilling and who your specific target market is. Also, even if you are planning to launch your own gig, don't dismiss the companies that play in your space. You can certainly learn from their success and more importantly perhaps, where they under-deliver. Try and intern with one or two companies that play in your space by Junior or Senior year -- you'll get a real-time, hands on experience at how it all works.

Best of luck,
Stefania

Bravo you have the correct way of thinking ! You must get prepared along the way you are right !
Some things you can do to start with :
- Networking : Linked In is good start, connect with people of you're interest and work on your profile, put yourself into forums to understand about start ups you will learn a lot !
- Look at TED TALKS on you tube and learn pleinty of things notably how to better YOUR communication
- Assess your self by doing a free MBTI test online and understand yourself better
- Write down your strengths and your gaps
- Make a year plan with goals to achieve and stick to it ! (do not overcommit !)

I hope this will help ! Good luck

Great that you are thinking ahead! The qualities that will serve you well in almost any profession include the following: planning & organization skills; a commitment to continuous learning (the world changes all of the time...that means you will need to learn new concepts and skills throughout your career); grit (aka perseverance); keeping your word with others (you need to demonstrate that you are a trustworthy person...following through on promises you make is one way to build trust); learning from your mistakes ( so you'll need to admit errors to yourself in order to avoid repeating the same errors repeatedly); humility; empathy; humor; generosity. I would recommend reading Stephen Covey's book on the Seven Habits of Succesful people (I may not have the title 100% correct - but you will be able to find it online).

Good luck in your future career AND business. Get a minor in business administration while an undergraduate so that you have some of the fundamentals when starting out!!

Congratulations on starting your journey into your career! One of the best pieces of advice I can give you is to build good, strong, lasting connections with your classmates and teachers. These connections can aid in you in making professional decisions and a network of potential clients and associates. Good luck!