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Needing advice on career change!


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Maybe pharma is available?  At least for the recruiters (and speaking with a family member who is also in the industry), the jobs they advertise say 'MD' but I think can be done by people in a variety of fields and positions, plus the starting salaries are >$250k, and can go up significantly from there.  You just have to convince them that you have the leadership abilities and background knowledge to do the job.  I haven't seen PAs in those positions, but maybe they exist?

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Many of us have felt as you do, I have struggled with burnout for at least the last few years, if not  more.  

A couple things that can help I think if you can manage to find this type of position and afford to take these measures.  

Cut back to part time

Find a lower acuity clinical position

Now I am working one day a week in clinic and doing insurance reviews from home.  Unfortunately the insurance review position is dependent on the doc I am helping.  I help him organize the reviews, I do not actually have the final say.  This is not something that PAs can do on their own, and most companies will only hire MDs and RNs.  So, essentially this was just something I lucked into finding, but definately not mainstream.  I can say this has pretty much fixed my burnout, I actually really enjoy my one day of clinic work and can tolerate the aggravations knowing I am only there one day.  Insurance work is not super fulfilling either, but I am home for my kids every day and it is super flexible.  

Really we are limited to teaching at a PA program, medical device or pharmaceutical sales or medical science laison.  I am sure others have branched into other things, but there is really a high barrier to doing anything else without further education or training.  

The sales and laison positions are ruled out for me as I have kids at home and a husband that travels, so those options were out. The medical science laison seems really interesting, I know a very good PA that accepted a laison position, I think she was tired of clinical work also. pharmaceutical sales can be cut throat and there is pressure to make numbers, so to me it is just swapping one pressure for another, also would not be fulfilling for me at all.

Teaching was ruled out for me due to not having a Masters and not having the desire to spend the money at this point, but may be an option for you?  

I would strongly encourage you to save money like mad and try to live simply.  We are on track to be out of the rat race completely if we want to at age 50.  If you are 30 and miserable then you definately need to re think what else you want to do, but if you are 40 to 50ish it may make more sense to just grind through as a PA and try to put away as much as possible and then find lower paying, more enjoyable work.  

There is a recent article on whitecoatinvestor.com about burnout, it is really good.  I have learned a ton about investing/finance and really enjoy the blog among a few others.  Best of luck to you,

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For everyone saying, "just go part-time".  It's a good idea, and what I do but don't forget about health insurance.  It is an absolute nightmare in cost and benefits to buy it on the open market.  If you get benefits from your spouse, great.  If you don't....good freaking luck.

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2 hours ago, Cideous said:

For everyone saying, "just go part-time".  It's a good idea, and what I do but don't forget about health insurance.  It is an absolute nightmare in cost and benefits to buy it on the open market.  If you get benefits from your spouse, great.  If you don't....good freaking luck.

agree- just became a 1099 employee and now purchasing my own medical/dental/vision for me and family...it isn't cheap...especially if you want to keep your current providers...

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On 3/22/2018 at 8:45 AM, entpac said:

Yes, the beauty of being a PA is the ability to switch course if needed.  I am truly sorry to hear reallyconfusedPA regret going into medicine.  I wonder if there was not a strong mentor early on.  I worked with PA students on their phase 2 clinic rotations in the service and have been a preceptor in the civilian sector.  I always recommend finding a strong mentor before you sell yourself short.  

Maybe this is why I'm unhappy in my career. How do you find a mentor though? They are not normally advertised as an employment benefit. 

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3 hours ago, Cideous said:

For everyone saying, "just go part-time".  It's a good idea, and what I do but don't forget about health insurance.  It is an absolute nightmare in cost and benefits to buy it on the open market.  If you get benefits from your spouse, great.  If you don't....good freaking luck.

I totally agree, it does make it really hard if you count on your benefits.  I know I am super fortunate that my spouse is military and we have Tricare.  I really wish there were better options for everyone.  I am 1099 for one position and W2 for the other, and I think the thing I enjoy the most is that I call the shots completely on my schedule and I don't feel like I am "owned" by any one employer.  It has taken me 15 years to get to this place though.  

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5 hours ago, PsychPAinPA said:

Maybe this is why I'm unhappy in my career. How do you find a mentor though? They are not normally advertised as an employment benefit. 

A previous preceptor, PA school teacher, program director, counselor, SP you respect, classmates... My program had us pair up with an "upper classman" for a mentoring program. I still talk to mine five years later.

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Appreciate everyone's advice!  Scaling back and looking for part-time work might very well be an option.  If I remain out of medicine for an extended period, then what can I do to ensure employers don't look at a significant gap too negatively (at least more than they already will)?  CME and credentials will be maintained, but what else?  Is there some threshold or length of time that would prevent me from ever returning? Also, what resources does everyone use to update their medical CVs/resumes?  Does anyone have a specific template they've found that seems to work well?

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Guest UVAPAC
On 3/22/2018 at 7:11 AM, entpac said:

UVAPAC - who is working 8 hour days?  My days often start at 7 am.  I am often seeing patients until after 5 pm with no lunch.  At the end of the day I have at least 5 or 6 test abnormal test results to follow up on by phone (If I'm lucky I'll get the patient on my first call).  Then I am the person to fill out FMLA forms for all of the surgeons in our group (there are 8, multiply that times the patient's needing FMLA for their kid's appointments, their appointments or surgery).  I am after 24 years as a PA (20 in this specialty) considering an Urgent Care or Primary Care job.  I have also considered teaching part time and Urgent Care part time.  I am already working 12 hour days.  

I work in Occupational Medicine.  Mon-Fri no weekends no holidays.  My day starts at 8:00am and ends at 4:30pm.  There is plenty of time to get paperwork and phone calls returned during the daytime.  Occasionally I don't get my lunch break, but that is extremely rare.  

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