Leaving current job. Any input appreciated.

[risktaker]

Hey all,

 

To make long story short, I ended up with two bad eggs when it comes to jobs out of PA school. My first job was at a busy urgent care that had initially stated that they would mostly be doing double coverage and then it ended up being mostly solo shifts. I left this job after 11 months, but it was also because I wanted to move back to my home state. I ended up taking a job in occupational medicine and after 3 months of doing this job, it has become abundantly clear to me that occupational medicine is not my cup of tea and it also doesn't help that I am being worked like a dog and was also told in this job that I would only be working double coverage and again this is not the case. My supervising physician at this occ med practice is great but I cannot handle the fact that I am working my tail end off and lot of the employees concerns go unaddressed on a daily basis. I am considering leaving this job after 3 months because it literally feels like a part of my soul dies every time I go into work. I do not have another job lined up but I have enough set aside to be okay without a job for 5 months. Should I leave this job without not having a job lined up? I know the rational option is to apply to jobs while working but I did this with my previous job and I feel that I made a poor decision to start this job due to the fact that I did not have the time or resources to find my "dream job". I am making roughly 112k for the year in this occ med job and schedule is nice, but there is little to no room for growth and benefits are terrible. Thoughts? Thanks for all your help. 

[TheLastStone]

I am not a PA... yet. However, I'm 26 and have worked as a mechanic, professional driver, bartender and server and now in college. Throughout my journey I realized my self worth and I can understand taking crap once in a while in the workforce but ultimately you know whether or not what you want and it seems you've already made up your mind since you calculated how good you'll be off until shit starts hitting the fan, so to speak. For what it's worth, I would say follow your heart. What's that quote... "Know you're worth, know your worth it." Also, an alternative which isn't as drastic would be to maybe talk to your superiors and see if the issue can't be resolved? I don't know. PA jobs seem to be attainable pretty easily right now, especially with the experience in the bag. I tend to follow my gut and it hasn't let me down too often since I listen to it now ;) Hope this helps.

 

Happy Holidays,

-MS

[risktaker]

Thanks for the input, Michael. I already approached them once about the situation and not very many changes have been made. 

[TheLastStone]

You're welcome! Well, I would say do what your name says then. Take the risk ;) We only live once, right? Might as well not waste a moment doing something you don't enjoy. You've worked hard to get where you are and to enjoy what you do, not hate it.

[ventana]

3 months is really to fast to leave a job unless you licenses is at risk, and you have something else lined up

 

you run the risk of labeling yourself as unemployable with an 11m and 3m position

 

Stay one year - I had one job I hated, then after about 10-11 months it was not bad - and I committed to learning as much as I could before I left (just shy of one year with a job already lined up)

 

What you need to do is figure out a way to "fit"

Work less hard

Try to enjoy the patients

Do a good job medically

learn, learn,learn

 

I am hearing about this a lot these days and starting to wonder - is it not that PA-S are hard chargers, and these days are more likely to be traditional students, and have not really settled into the work force - or even as a non-traditional student - have not settled into the medical work force.  And therefore it takes time (1-2 years) to find you bearings in a medical field - which honestly can be VASTLY different depending where you are at - ie occ health versus OR versus single coverage remote ER vs simple slow urgent care (you get the idea)

[risktaker]

I think the ideal fit for me would be a practice with both family and urgent care. Ventana, I understand what you are saying, but would employers really not want to hire me even if I had a legitimate reason for leaving after 3 months? The employer I am working for made numerous promises that they have not kept. The head honcho of the financial side of the company has told us during a meeting that all he sees when he looks at us is "dollar signs" and he wants us all to work long hours and see more patients without added pay. I just can't see myself being able to work here for a year without becoming clinically depressed. They have an in house specialist whose post-op patients were being seen only by one provider who then left and nothing was given to us as to how we would manage these post op patients. When asked about this, the medical director just wanted us to wing it. However, do you guys still think I should not leave until I actually find another job?

[risktaker]

Just an update. Started off per diem at an urgent care and now got hired full time there. If you hate your job, leave! There will be better ones out there as long as you put in the effort. I am back in urgent care and although it's high volume, I like it a hell of a lot more than occupational medicine. For all those people considering occupational medicine, please don't do it! It's soul sucking and you will end up hating medicine if you do. 

[rev ronin]

Never work for salary.  Work hourly with overtime, or work for yourself.

[Guest HanSolo]

I'm a big fan of per diem. You may not get the traditional benefits, but you get the best benefit of them all - a flexible schedule that you can dictate.