Are You Suited for a Non-Clinical Physician Job?

This is a guest post by Ashley M. Jones. If you'd like to submit a guest post, please contact me.

Are You Suited to a Non-Clinical Physician Job?

It’s the way that most medical professionals who want a change in career are going – they gain a double advantage in that they don’t have to completely give up medicine and that their new job is less stressful than their old one. But switching to a non-clinical physician job is not for everyone. You may be looking for a change, you may want to work more reasonable hours, and you may want less stress on the job, but these alone are no reason to jump to a non-clinical position. You need to ensure that you’re suited to the job as well, because once you make the switch, it’s harder to get back into the regular medical stream. So do you have what it takes to make a success of your non-clinical physician job?

The only way to decide on this issue is to go about it analytically instead of just making the change instinctively:

• Weigh the pros and cons of your current job and take stock of your main and auxiliary set of skills.
• Check if you’re able to find a non-clinical physician job that suits your skill set and temperament.
• Take into consideration your salary – even if you don’t mind making much less than you did as a surgeon or physician initially, you may regret your decision if you cannot sustain the same quality of life as you did before.
• Consider the level of respect and authority you enjoy at your job – most non-clinical jobs do not allow you to command the same level of authority and/or respect that you are accustomed to at your current clinical position. So if you’re a highly specialized surgeon or high-ranking doctor, you may not enjoy becoming a medical writer or a consultant for a pharmaceutical company.
• Ask yourself what motivates you when it comes to work – if you thrive on challenges, then maybe you need to reconsider your decision to switch to a non-clinical job. Sure, you do have a lower level of stress, but if you’re bored at your job, you won’t want to stick to it.
• Assess what you want from your life – if you want to spend most of your time with your family and friends and don’t really care about the money or prestige, then perhaps you would be satisfied with moving to a non-clinical physician job. You’re still working and making money, and you’re also free of stress and constantly being on call and performing stressful and difficult diagnoses and other procedures.

In general, the move to a non-clinical job must be made after careful consideration of all the facts at your disposal, your lifestyle, your temperament, and your aim for the rest of your life.

This article is contributed by Ashley M. Jones, who regularly writes on the subject of Pharmacy Technician Certification. She invites your questions, comments at her email address: ashleym.jones643@gmail.com.