Burn out? Switch fields? or just take time off?

[tristatepac]

The purpose of the post is to just gain insight from some experienced PA's out there.  I've been working as a PA for close to 15 years now.  I started in Emergency Medicine, then progressed to Urgent Care and Family practice.  I am very good at what I do but I feel very bored.

I've really started to not like working weekends because it's the best time to see my kids because they're in school during the week.  

I'm feeling trapped these days by a job that I don't feel like I get much satisfaction from but I get payed well.  I've thought about working in the hospital again (started in ER), so I wonder how different is it working as a hospitalist versus the ER?

Alternatively, there are pain management practices, occupational medicine practices that are more regular M through F type gigs.

Has anyone else experience this type of boredom and what have you done?  I could take another job for $30k-40k less, but then I'd have financial stress.  I am in my mid to late 40's so I think age may also be a factor here.

I appreciate any input as sometimes I feel paralyzed these days by all the stress and my procrastination in making a change.

Thank you.

 

Edited October 14, 2019 by tristatepac
Took out some personal info.

[mgriffiths]

14 minutes ago, tristatepac said:

Has anyone else experience this type of boredom and what have you done?

I am nowhere near as experienced as you...going on 3-4 years.  But, I am in the process of transitioning from FM to ortho, partially for this reason.  I would call it more mind-numbing frustration, but call it what you will.  For the last 2 years I have worked 4 days per week, which both provided great flexibility for better life enjoyment but also for picking up per diem shifts for extra cash (which was huge for me this past year).  My employer is allowing me to stay at 4 days in my transition to ortho, with the blessing (and support) from the surgeon I'll be working with.

So, maybe it isn't so much which area of medicine you want, but more the schedule.  Will your current job allow for 4 days per week, or is there something in the immediate area that would allow this schedule?

[UGoLong]

I recommend that you take some time and shadow some buddies in other areas.

For every job, there are people who like it and people who don’t. Take time to see which group you’re in.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Cideous]

Go Derm....get rich....retire early...travel the world.....very not boring.....problem solved.  Your welcome  

[Lightspeed]

1 hour ago, Cideous said:

Go Derm....get rich....retire early...travel the world.....very not boring.....problem solved.  Your welcome  

Good advice. That doesn't seem to come up very much on here when having the burnout conversation. Everyone seems resigned to a fate of roaming among the urgent care's and ER fast track's of the nation.

All the folks here have a generalist degree... take advantage of it. Most people dream of that kind of career latitude. I've met physicians that certainly do.   

Another good solution is to find something outside of work that you really enjoy... that you can't get enough of. Something that isn't simply tied to the joy of paying bills. Think big, and find something totally optional. Having that in your life makes it much more appealing to keep showing up to a job that seems monotonous. I'd use my money on that rather than take a pay cut, because you might not find the new job is all that interesting once you are back into a new routine. 

 

Edited October 15, 2019 by Lightspeed

[MediMike]

Find a job that makes you the most possible while working the least...then find something that brings you real joy in life. 

I've come to find teaching brings me a tremendous amount of satisfaction. Work to live, don't live to work.

[Lightspeed]

4 hours ago, MediMike said:

Find a job that makes you the most possible while working the least...then find something that brings you real joy in life. 

I've come to find teaching brings me a tremendous amount of satisfaction. Work to live, don't live to work.

Precept... maybe take some NP students under your wing and show them how it’s done like a PA would do it! 
 

That might be a hill to high to climb, so maybe just stick with your youngling PAs. Nobody would hold it against you if you wanted to keep the wealth in the family. 

[SedRate]

59 minutes ago, Lightspeed said:

Precept... maybe take some NP students under your wing and show them how it’s done like a PA would do it! 
 

That might be a hill to high to climb, so maybe just stick with your youngling PAs. Nobody would hold it against you if you wanted to keep the wealth in the family. 

Just an aside, some NP programs do not allow for PA preceptors, only MD, DO or NP. 

[Lightspeed]

3 hours ago, Sed said:

Just an aside, some NP programs do not allow for PA preceptors, only MD, DO or NP. 

True. To their detriment. Mine allowed it. I would have trained with a PA in a heartbeat, and had one lined up that was kind enough to be willing to come through for me when I needed it. 
 

The way I had it explained to me why PAs were a bit more complicated had to do with what my program director said was the student malpractice insurance. So according to the PD, the SP needed to be involved for the contract to be valid, because the legal “buck” would stop with the docs? So I could have trained with the PA, but it would have needed to be signed off on by the physician. I was able to sail past those complications by training under physicians, and NPs. I didn’t pay much attention to the nuts and bolts of that process. 

Edited October 15, 2019 by Lightspeed

[ohiovolffemtp]

I'm not sure the medical malpractice angle is correct.  PA's train PA students all the time.  The school carries the med mal on the student, not the preceptor.  Whenever I've trained PA (or NP) students I did have to give them 1 of my doc's name (in EM I work with many different docs, sometimes even several within a given shift).  In Ohio, where I've done most of my precepting, NP's are not independent.  The NP programs just seemed to be biased against PA's being preceptors.  In one case, I had to mention that I'd already taught for the university (albeit in computer science) to be approved as a preceptor for one of their NP students.

[sas5814]

Precepting is something I do to give back. If a program doesn't want me to precept their students I'm certainly not going to  beg them to please please take my free labor.

It doens't bother me to precept NP students like it does some but, again, I'm not begging anyone to let me.

 

Sorry...got a little off topic.

[Lightspeed]

55 minutes ago, ohiovolffemtp said:

I'm not sure the medical malpractice angle is correct.  PA's train PA students all the time.  The school carries the med mal on the student, not the preceptor.  Whenever I've trained PA (or NP) students I did have to give them 1 of my doc's name (in EM I work with many different docs, sometimes even several within a given shift).  In Ohio, where I've done most of my precepting, NP's are not independent.  The NP programs just seemed to be biased against PA's being preceptors.  In one case, I had to mention that I'd already taught for the university (albeit in computer science) to be approved as a preceptor for one of their NP students.

Could be bias. My program didn’t seem to care, we just had to include the physician in the agreement and petition for permission if we wanted to precept with PAs. I’m not even sure now if it was a insurance issue or I misinterpreted and it was simply a requirement with the preceptor contract as a way to ensure the SP was in the loop and informed of what was going on with the PA. All my PD said was it was a requirement for the “contract”, so I assumed it was for the insurance, but that was only part of the whole process. Having not precepted anyone myself, I’m still ill informed. 

[Lightspeed]

37 minutes ago, sas5814 said:

Precepting is something I do to give back. If a program doesn't want me to precept their students I'm certainly not going to  beg them to please please take my free labor.

It doens't bother me to precept NP students like it does some but, again, I'm not begging anyone to let me.

 

Sorry...got a little off topic.

Well, that’s the thing... I felt really self conscious at the time about asking a PA that was trying to help me with my clinical rotations to be hassled with my school’s requirement. I didn’t really know much about why they needed it to be that way, either. I backed out of what could have been a great rotation. 

[Boatswain2PA]

On 10/14/2019 at 6:36 AM, tristatepac said:

I could take another job for $30k-40k less, but then I'd have financial stress. 

You've been a PA for 15 years, and couldn't cut back (or take your dream job) for $30-$40K less.

Recommend you take some steps so you are not in the same situation in 10 years from now.  For new(er) PAs, I recommend you take note of this and take steps so YOU are not in this situation 10 years from now.

Tristate - I think burnout can often come from the feeling of just spinning your wheels.  You get a great paycheck, only to see it get eaten up by taxes, mortgage, car payments, CC payments, etc.  Then you pay for the braces, sports, music lessons.  You put vacations on CC because you know you can pay them off, but then you're burned out because you're working like mad for the next 4 months paying it off.

Burnout can come from being trapped, you GOTTA go to work, and you're gonna have to work FOREVER.  That just wears you out.

Perhaps reconsider your financial plan.  Become debt free in a few years and good chance your burnout will resolve as you won't be trapped in any job.  

[GetMeOuttaThisMess]

Been there, done that.  It does help to be out of debt but it doesn't alleviate boredom at what you do.  36 years in, I went through two sabbaticals, one to take care of elderly parents.  I too had done EM and went to a PC setting thereafter (employee health primarily).  In my mind it became a matter of which position can I best tolerate with the least amount of stress and yet earn a good income.  I have it in my current position.  I'm getting out at 60 with my house being paid for and the only debt being my wife's new Lexus SUV which I'm waiting a year to pay off just to get the credit rating effect from it.  Regarding vacations?  They are much more enjoyable if you have them prepaid and don't have to come back to a pile of paperwork/forms.  This is why I've spent 13+ years in employee health having not been their PCP.  Shame that you're not in N. Texas to apply for my gig.

Not that anyone will give a rip but I'll have some final comments following that last day two weeks from tomorrow.

Edited October 17, 2019 by GetMeOuttaThisMess

[surgblumm]

"If it's not fun, don't do it.Time to get another job." Alan Webber, Founding Editor of Fast Company.