Health Care Providers Have Other Options

Feeling trapped
Doctors who are unhappy with their work environment can end up feeling trapped.

If you are dissatisfied in clinical practice, it is important to know your options so you won't miss out on opportunities that could be a better fit for you. Your practice setting may be inefficient, unprofessional, or toxic. If that is the case, you should remember that you are in demand, you can find another job, and you don't have to stay trapped.

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Building your confidence
Doctors may begin to lose confidence in themselves after working in a hostile or discouraging environment. If you are told that you take too long to document your notes, if your productivity is not meeting targets, if you were not the best resident in your program, or if you can't get into a residency, it can take a toll on how you view your options. Yet, there are doctors who were never "the best" who are extremely successful. Once you begin to realize that you can succeed, you can begin to look beyond your limitations to see that you can become a great doctor.

Knowing your options
If you know that patient care is what you want to do, then you need to seek out different practice options sooner rather than later. A bleak work setting often leads to high staff turnover, which can make it nearly impossible to achieve optimal patient care. Finding a work environment with a constructive and well-designed approach to patient care can make all the difference for you.

For some doctors, non-traditional professional paths can provide more professional satisfaction - and an equal or better salary than patient care. Once you know about your options, you can take the steps to reach your professional goals.

There is a demand for doctors outside of patient care
As medicine is becoming increasingly complex, the healthcare industry is relying more and more on experienced physicians to lead the medical field in roles outside of traditional clinical practice. If you find yourself wishing you had other options as a physician- you may be more suited to a different position within the healthcare field.
Physicians who have the skills and certification to provide patient care can also guide other areas of healthcare- such as the financial, technological, educational, or utilization aspects and more.

Giving yourself permission
There are advantages and disadvantages to every type of job.  But, if you are a physician, you should know that there is nothing wrong with working at a job that would make you happy. And remaining in a job that you don't want to do would only make sense if there were no other options that could provide you with equal or more compensation. However, the vast majority of doctors have other options. There is no reason for a physician to stay in a bad job.
It is important to realize that a physician's career, which usually spans over 30 years, is a continuum, with options for increasing levels of expertise, promotions, and career pivots. There are a number of ways to serve patients, the community, your family, and your own well being, while earning the income that you aspire to.

Seizing your options
There are not many resources that consolidate all of the non-clinical career alternatives for physicians. That is because the companies and industries that need physicians in non-clinical roles recruit separately based on their own needs and criteria. This makes finding a non-clinical job different than applying for the match- which lists all residency specialties in an easy to find format.

As you explore your options, it is important to remain confident in your abilities, intelligence, skills, and qualifications. When you face rejection or obstacles, remember that most leaders did not achieve their success without hard work and persistence.

You are not trapped in a health care career that you do not want. There are options out there.