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Bob Priddy

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Robert F. Priddy, President 

I’m often asked, “When is the best time for me to make a change, to leave clinical practice,” or, “is this really a good time to be looking at a non-clinical career?” 

Frankly, the best time to change is now – right now! I say this with emphasis for two reasons. 

First, if you’re questioning your practice situation, tiring of your call schedule, worn down by reimbursement hassles or simply feeling that “by now” I should be doing more of what I really want to do, then it’s time to change because nothing will get better. That’s not pessimism, simply realism based on years of experience and thousands of physician conversations. If you’re feeling this way, one of these ways, or have some other chief complaint, it’s probably been a growing problem or concern. Just like your patients, one sign of a symptom doesn’t drive you to run for help. You’re experiencing the slow metastasis of a chronic condition. Don’t wait for it to be terminal. 

Unfortunately, I very often receive an initial contact from a physician who upon follow up says, “I had a pretty good day today. The (insert your problem or complaint here) wasn’t too bad today, and maybe things can get better.

Maybe one of my clients says it best:

Dear Bob,
        Your prediction is almost prescient.  Nearly 1 year to the day, I am writing you to once again express my interest in being tested and working on a new career.  Please feel free to call me on my cell any time or at home.  Thanks for your help.

Regards,
Client Name, M.D. FACC FSCAI

 Nothing changes by chance, and the expectation that your partners will suddenly realize your true value, your billing person will suddenly find the secret to full reimbursement, your patients will suddenly recognize the value of your time, hospital administration will suddenly realize you’re right…, or you suddenly start working only a 60 hour week…; well, is even reading this beginning to sound silly?

I’m not saying your practice setting or situation can’t improve, but to improve it is also a career transition – again, a time-consuming process, not an event. I’ve even written about that process. I call it the Physician-Centered Practice. If you’d like to read more about it, click the link on the www.thirdevo.com/news.htm  page. Regardless, the point is this, if you’re unhappy, you need change and the time to seek change is somewhere along the decision-making spectrum between the onset of symptoms and the realization that they are chronic and won’t self reverse. Without beating the proverbial dead horse, treat yourself, your career, the way you’d treat a patient. Diagnose the problem, create an assessment, then develop and implement a treatment plan. You deserve no less. 

Second, today is the day because making the decision and experiencing the cure are two different things. Again, the patient told to loose 15 pounds can make the decision to be compliant today, but won’t see the result for many months. It’s the same with your career change. As I repeatedly say, career change (or transition) is a process, not an event. 

Therefore, what is this process and how long does it take. The process is what I said above:

·         Diagnosis

o   Objective testing

o   Subjective investigation and analysis

·         Assessment

·         Plan

If that sounds too simple, it both is and isn’t. It sounds simple because it’s what you do every day, and anything you do well and do often usually seems simple to the “doer.”
However, when you turn the process inward, to focus on your “chief complaint(s),” it’s no longer simple. “What can I do with a medical degree other than practice medicine,” that’s the usual question. Or, “I’m working 80 hours a week, how can I look for a job?” Those are certainly reasonable questions, but the answer is the same, diagnose, assess, and treat.

I tell every client and every person who simply calls asking for advice to expect the process of career change or transition to last nine to 14 months, assuming you’re seeking “immediate” change and you plan to pursue change aggressively. As an aside, I have a number of clients who’ve come to me seeking a gradual transition, perhaps a three to five year plan. However, after two or three months working together, and getting a glimpse of the non-clinical opportunities open to them they say, “Let’s do it now. I don’t need to wait.” However, that’s your call not mine. Just don’t be surprised if your overall timing changes once you immerse yourself in the process. Back to the point: if nine to 14 months seems like a long time, consider you’re not changing jobs, but careers. If you elected to seek or join another medical practice, between tuning up your CV, contacting some physician recruiters and making some contacts, then interviews, it would easily be a six-month affair. That’s six months to simply move your practice. Only doubling that time to actually define what you can and want to do, your diagnosis, define your career accomplishment in such a way as to be attractive and represent high value to a potential employer, your assessment, and then begin meeting and speaking with people in a completely different career field, you plan, well, that’s actually moving rather quickly and aggressively.

Even if you do want to consider a “five-year plan”, the time to begin is today. Back to your patient you told to loose 15 pounds. Would it be easier to loose that weight in nine to 14 months or with a continuous and methodical process over a five-year period? Beginning today simply means that by the time you hit your goal date you’ll likely find that you’ve achieved your goal by barely trying. 

******************* 

That’s the truth, the answer to your question, “when is the best time to begin career change.” 

Certainly, you can cloud the issue with the state of the economy, family obligations and a host of other issues. However, these are not reasons not to seek change. These are only reasons to be in control of your change, its timing and its focus, and wouldn’t it be comforting to feel in control?

The time to begin is now!

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Last modified: 02/27/12