5 Good Reasons to Change your Career as a Doctor
Before doing anything, it is important to think about the reasons why you are doing something. Here we share our reasons to change career as a doctor.
All of us at some point have thought about changing career – whether it’s more of a random musing like owning a beach bar in Costa Rica or going into management consultancy. Before doing anything, it is important to think about the reasons why you are doing something. Here we share our reasons to change career as a doctor.
Abandoning a training programme that you have been working towards for so long is no easy task – you start to feel that it defines who you are. However, it’s important to remember, changing career is no longer the taboo it once was.
A portfolio career is more the norm nowadays. With less than optimal pensions, you’re going to be working for a long time (unless you win the lottery), so you may as well try and enjoy it.
5 Good Reasons to Change Career as a Doctor
1. You care passionately about a career that is not medicine
– whenever doctors say to me they would like to change career, I always want to know that they are leaving because they have really thought through their new career choice, rather than they just want to leave the NHS. If you think about it, it makes sense that employers want to know the positive reasons why you are choosing to do something.
2. You did medicine in the first place because you were not sure what else to do or you were pressured into it
– when choosing university courses, it’s easy to fall into a course such as medicine, that leads to a secure, reasonably well paid career. Or maybe all of your family are doctors. With medicine, you need to be passionate and if you’re not, it makes it that much harder to keep yourself motivated.
3. Medicine no longer fits in with your life circumstances and goals
– doing on calls weekends and nights may have been fine when it was just you to think about but what about now that you have a family? In that case, maybe it’s time to think if there’s something else that would be more aligned with your goals.
4. You are physically and emotionally burnt out
– it happens a lot with doctors, as they are so busy taking care of other people that they forget to take care of themselves. Sometimes, your body makes the decision for you so that you actually have to take stock of your life and admit to yourself that you need to make a change.
5. The end goal isn’t where you want to be
– at the end of all the training and exams, you reach the Consultant Ivory Tower. However, what if that’s not really what you want? We all need goals to strive for and climbing a ladder not sure if you want to actually get to the top is bound to take its toll.
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If you want to connect with other doctors in the same position, there’s no better way to do this than at our networking events.
If you want guidance on a changing your career, then perhaps you need a Career Coach. If you want to know more, drop us a line via our Contact form.
Sara Sabin
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