Admit it, doctor. You can be a little bit shortsighted sometimes. And while squinting at EMRs might be to blame for your eyesight (and other things), you can’t blame it for your medical career myopia. Regardless of your career stage, it’s never too late to create or revise a plan. We consulted with Dr. Jacqueline Huntly, a physician career and leadership development coach, on what doctors should be doing to ensure that they have meaningful, fulfilling careers. This is an especially important step to take for doctors fresh out of residency, she says. “Ultimately, they’re just so glad to be through residency, and quite frankly, they don’t have a lot of time to think about the big picture in residency,” Huntly says. “There hasn’t been a lot of thought about the specifics of the job beyond, is it in my speciality.” More established physicians can just as easily get bogged down in a career rut, Huntly says, especially given medicine’s current burnout pandemic. But don’t just start applying and interviewing. According to Huntly, start by reviewing these four critical career-planning considerations. Here’s a guide to help you jumpstart your career plan: What sort of impact do you want to have? Huntly suggests that you start here. Maybe you’re content to practice your chosen specialty for the duration of your career. But maybe you’re the type of person who wants to grow, possibly filling a leadership role. Ask yourself what you want your job to look like in five years, Huntly says. When answering, list the challenges you want to have and the ones you want to avoid. If you’re new to the workforce, be conscious of opportunities for leadership and personal growth with prospective employers, and be mindful of how you can use your non-clinical talents. What are your values? Know what is important to you, Huntly says. Maybe it’s mentorship, or leadership opportunities, or the chance to do clinical research. “What is non-negotiable?” Huntly asks. “If your employer isn’t meeting these values, then it’s unlikely that you’ll be happy there.” Values shouldn’t be limited exclusively to career values. Personal and professional lives intersect more than ever. If becoming a parent is important to you, or your relationship with your significant other is your top priority, you need to be conscious and proactive about it. It’s possible that all you care about is making as much money as you can. That’s fine, Huntly says, you just need to be honest with yourself and take these personal priorities into consideration when making your next career move. Remember, your work and your personal life should complement one another, not contradict. How comfortable are you with change? With proposed changes to CMS afoot, the certification civil war, declining payments from insurance companies, and emergent business models, Huntly points out that medicine is in a constant state of flux. You need to know whether you respond well to change, or whether you avoid it like an undergraduate ducks organic chemistry. Regardless, change in medicine is inevitable. Keep learning and updating your skills. Know the issues confronting medicine. “Develop a mindset of being solution-oriented or a leader,” she says. How hard do you want to work? Millennials tend to have a different balance of values, Huntly explains, favoring personal and family life equally or more so than their careers. This is leading to intergenerational conflict in healthcare institutions across the country. “Expectations are different now,” Huntly says. “At times, expectations with the upcoming physician cohort may be out of line with what the demands are. On the other hand, the older generation is not appreciating as much just how different the world these people are coming into is.” Conflicts will arise, Huntly says. The key to minimizing them is establishing your own set of values (see question two) and looking for an employer that aligns with them. TL;DR If you’re just getting started on the job hunt, or maybe your feeling bogged down in a professional rut, answer these questions for yourself as honestly as possible before you start sending out your CV. What sort of impact do you want to have? What are your values? How comfortable are you with change? How hard do you want to work? Source
