Is this the right time to change careers?

Robert F. Priddy, President

Every client asks himself or herself and me that question. I don’t want you to have to read this entire article to find out the answer. This is the answer every client gives me, “I wish I’d done this years ago.” Let me explain. The answer is a challenge today because it’s tied up in the complexity of the question. The question is backward looking while the answer should be forward looking.

Most of my clients have presented with these symptoms:

I’m working harder for less money.
I see my family less and less.
I practice with the constant threat that something isn’t going to go the way a patient wants and I’ll be sued.
The business aspects of my practice are becoming (or are) overwhelming.
I’m realizing that every year my lifestyle is becoming worse.
I’m not practicing medicine they way I’d envisioned.
Outside “parties” (payors, regulatory bodies, employers, etc…) are keeping me from being as good a physician as I know I can be.

This is the short list.

When they ask if they should leave, regardless of whom they ask the question, the backward looking answers are similar:

What else could you do?
How could you consider “not being a doctor?”
Am I wasting everything I’ve learned?
Can I make enough money in some other career?
What will my “significant others” say?
What will I think of myself?

You’re in a stable profession; do you know what the “real world” is like?

However, a forward-looking answers are different. Forward-looking answers are:

I have a lot of interests, I’m highly intelligent, and there are probably many things I could do to earn a very good living.
I’ll always be a doctor, and I’ll always approach everything I do as a physician would – highly analytical, problem focused, data driven, results oriented.
A medical degree is a fantastic education – applicable to almost any field.
Whether as an entrepreneur or as an executive low to mid-six figure incomes should be expected.
Most “significant others” only want you to be happy, but sometimes they need to understand the dept of your unhappiness and dissatisfaction to fully support your transition.
If you’re happy, you’ll think you’ve made a great decision.
Anyone who believes the practice of medicine is stable knows nothing about healthcare.

That’s taking a forward-looking approach to answering your question, and whether you’re my client or you take a well-organized and thoughtful approach to managing your own career transition, that’s the focus you should have. Again, I can only tell you what every one of my clients has said to me, “I wish I’d done this years ago.”

At the practical level, you do need to be well prepared and realistic about significant career transition. Bluntly, it is not easy and it usually isn’t quick. But then again, neither was becoming a physician. While it won’t take you seven to 15 years to accomplish, you should expect a nine to 14 month journey. That’s for employment. If you’re starting your own enterprise, allow a two-year transition.

You can follow the same approach I follow with clients – one you’re very familiar with the SOAP note. Assess you career potential as:

Subjective – what do I like to do, what do I enjoy, and what do I believe I do very well? If I could truly write my own ticket, where would it lead?
Objective – what are my real skills – learn to dissect what you do. If you’re an excellent diagnostician, then you’re highly analytical. If you’re a great surgeon, you’re likely very mechanically oriented or very good with computers, etc…
Assessment – where do the lines cross? That is where do your interests and likes match up with your real skills? And, where are those attributes used in non-clinical fields?
Plan – how do you make it happen? It’s about taking a first step and then having a path to follow – incremental goals. Remember what it took to become a physician. From the day you said, “I’m going to be a doctor,” until you started your first practice, you followed a well-defined path. Define a new path. Joining a certain organization may help you make new contacts. Volunteering with some group may help you develop and display your non-clinical skills. Each of these activities is about identifying a stepping-stone and taking the next step.

Now, for some don’ts. MD/DO/DDS/DVM, they are all great educations. You don’t need an MBA or an MSWhatever. That’s just putting your career transition on hold for two or more years. You might need some new language points, the nomenclature or jargon of a specific industry. Audit (yes audit) a community college course that offers the information you believe you need – I could tell you stories…

Don’t expect to send your CV to an executive recruiter and have a job in three months. Neither the market nor executive recruiters work that way.

Don’t stop practicing and if you have don’t give up you license, insurance, association memberships etc… One, this is your current contact base and two don’t burn bridges.

Don’t get caught up in “it’s a bad economy.” Executives never stop changing jobs. And while healthcare as an industry is somewhat recession-proof. The practice of medicine is not.

Don’t get frustrated and don’t give up.

Is this the right time to change careers?

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Last modified: 02/27/12