Am I too specialized or not waiting long enough

[Futurepa19952]

Hi! I work in a surgical oncology position and am realizing it is not for me. I have been applying for jobs for a while now but have not had any luck getting contacted for interviews. Most positions I have applied to are family medicine, general ENT, urgnent care and ER.  I have only been working for 8 months though, so I can't tell if I just don't have enough experience yet. I also understand that most ERs or Urgent cares want someone that has worked in one of those settings for a few years as well. Does anyone have any experience with working in a speciality and having a hard time switching to something more broad?

[ventana]

be more personal in your approach

get the name of the HR person

review the entire hospital web site and learn the senior admin folks names

send thank you notes - even a quick email is appreciated

make it personal so they like you

it takes time

[SedRate]

First and foremost: network! Ask around and see who's hiring. 

Try applying to areas of practice more relevant to the one you currently practice in. For example, if you operate in your current position, look into general surgery or another surgical subspecialty, and then go from there. If you do any critical care, consider critical care, trauma, or CTS. If you manage the patients on your surgical service, consider hospitalist or internal medicine. If you're outpatient, try another outpatient subspecialty that gives you more exposure to more general medicine. 

Make sure you're not restricting yourself to one locale or one method of applying (e.g., only applying to positions on Indeed) as this can limit your options. 

[rev ronin]

3 hours ago, SedRate said:

Try applying to areas of practice more relevant to the one you currently practice in.

I would suck at going into a hospitalist or surgical position. I went into family medicine, and from there into other outpatient specialties where my pre-PA experience and personality strengths shone. I would not want to have missed where I am now for anything. Because one doesn't start at one's final destination, a broad job search and non-niche specialty is a great way to start seeing what works or what doesn't. I thought I was going to be an EM PA for the first 8 years of my career, before I realized that I was actually very good (at least relative to others) in my occupational medicine and eating disorders specialties. My sleep and pain management jobs made me a more well rounded clinician.  A weird job hop in your resume or CV may seem to make you look like you're flailing around at random... but those sorts of jumps can end up teaching you the most.

[SedRate]

17 hours ago, rev ronin said:

I would suck at going into a hospitalist or surgical position. I went into family medicine, and from there into other outpatient specialties where my pre-PA experience and personality strengths shone. I would not want to have missed where I am now for anything. Because one doesn't start at one's final destination, a broad job search and non-niche specialty is a great way to start seeing what works or what doesn't. I thought I was going to be an EM PA for the first 8 years of my career, before I realized that I was actually very good (at least relative to others) in my occupational medicine and eating disorders specialties. My sleep and pain management jobs made me a more well rounded clinician.  A weird job hop in your resume or CV may seem to make you look like you're flailing around at random... but those sorts of jumps can end up teaching you the most.

Agreed. Thanks for sharing your advice and experience. To add to your point about avoiding looking like one is "flailing around at random," I think it's also important to consider why one transfers to a certain position, especially those that might look like a "weird job hop." For example, the OP could find themselves a job in pediatric surgery as a way to round out their skills and prepare for an eventual transition to a job in a pediatric ED. 

[Patho]

8 months is not long in any field and you should be able to transition just fine, usually. 

There are many PA jobs in the DC, Northern Virginia, Maryland area or DMV if you live here. Jobs in urgent care, PCP, OP specialty like GI, Pulm, Cards, and hospital medicine. Some urgent care are taking warm  bodies as a minimum requirement. Now the pay, location, or environment may not be the greatest but you have to pick and choose what’s important to you.
 

I use indeed mostly, but also LinkedIn and contacting local recruiters as well. 

Edited December 15, 2022 by Patho