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How long did you stay in your 1st job?


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2 years and 2 days.  It was ortho.  I wanted ER but I was able to walk into the job even though I was from another state.  I got the job and did not have my license yet.   In the midwest it is harder to find ER jobs than the west coast.  It was a two fold factor, I was sick of the crazy hours/call, and I wanted to go ER.   I also was starting to have friction with the surgeon, I just could not keep him happy.   Yesterday we always order XY, today why didn't you know we order XX for the same case??  So I took an Urgent care job to get the experience to be able to apply for ER which I just got.  :)

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2 years.

Worked for a Rock and Roll Ortho Spine doc.

 

When a patient called me Mrs. Doctor Soandso - I knew it was time to go.

 

I was obviously spending so much time working that patients thought I must be his wife.

 

Not ok on either count.

 

So, off I went - still ortho but a teaching hospital. So, instead of one doctor - I worked for 40 - 10+ attendings and ER staff, 25 rotating residents.

Not so sure I traded up.....

 

I finally found my niche in family medicine over the years but the ortho experience is priceless.

 

25 yrs in - still plugging away.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Five months. Hospitalist group.

 

I'm still not sure if they willingly/ knowingly lied or misrepresented, or if they really were that disorganized and clueless, but it was a sad and tawdry tale. They made promises, I pointed out they were not kept, they were dissatisfied with some of my work, I pointed out those exact elements were what they promised to teach me and never did. They kept me on for some reason past the 90-day no-fault clause in the contract, and then not so long afterward, paid me a big-ass lump sum when they cut me loose. It was a "mutual decision," and I signed a non-compete and agreed not to say anything bad for one year afterward. That was 7 years ago; screw those guys. I made that severance check last more than 6 months, and never missed a loan payment.

 

I regret ever taking it personally, or letting it affect my confidence. Otherwise, nahh.

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5 years - was in a small IM PCP, urgent care, occ health private clinic -felt I learned enough at that time to be highly valuable, and they did not want to offer a reasonable pay raise

Then

~1 year in interventional Radiology

~1 year in chronic pain (me and the practice with a new director that was not comfortable with PA role)

~1 year in ER (to many 16 hour shifts overnight for me - not a good facility)

~2.5 years in IM (high volume reasonable practice, but I was viewed as "only a PA" and no role for productivity pay and my bonus was $500(insulting)

~3 years in my own practice - wow that was an experience - Geri house calls - few years before my time - need to be able to manage my patients on Hospice and VNA and not there yet, but soon by the looks.... Go congress!!

Now in Correctional medicine.... Likeing it but not for the new grad, faint of heart or undedicated......

 

(Some of these overlapped as I am a 2002 grad)

 

 

Overall that first job is huge in burning in the knowledge and gaining a comfort level..... Good mentoring and doc back up is key.

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