Making difficult career decisions

Struggling with your medical career choices?

 The sort of career decisions that many people worry about for years include

leaving medicine

choosing a clinical specialty ( even once one has been chosen - years later this can resurface)

taking time out of programme

letting go of a career dream

When faced with helping someone make a career decision that they are finding difficult - there are about 20 different methods and techniques or exercises that can really help the individual to confidently make a decision and feel happy about it - often after months or years of dilly dallying about.

A massive amount of emotional energy and time are literally sometimes completed wasted over a period of YEARS when in fact some straightforward career support would have resolved it quickly.
 Thus the time spent in "panic/worry/stress" mode regarding the career - had it been spent in logical career planning methodology with some personalised reassurances via a neutral sounding board perhaps as well - there would have been a swift resolution.

Here are some of the basic career planning principles as applied to career decision making...

1. Don't leave decision making till the last minute
   It is so easy to "put off" difficult or stressful decisions
2. Plan for both decisions WELL in advance of the decision
   ( in other words do all the research and planning as if each one was THE one)
3. Don't ask zillions of people their opinions - you'll get tons of conflict 
   (try to only ask a couple of people whose opinions you respect but also bear in mind that its only their opinion - they are not you!)
4. ​Pull together your own list of "criteria for a fulfilling and happy career" - your top five ( however many ultimately go on the list) need to prioritised and clarified ( without initially ANY reference to the decision you have to make  - going just purely on how you would like work and life to be ). Then and only then measure up the decision against those criteria.

If the above is not helping - you may really benefit from an objective evaluation by an experienced medical careers adviser where we can apply the other 16 methods and offer a neutral yet challenging sounding board and an objective view of your career and how you fit it and it you. Book in for our Career Review Programme perhaps?

There are a myriad of other options for doctors - some involve clinical work and some like medical informatics may not - but the main thing to keep in mind is - what do you love doing and what would you like more of ( NOT what would you like LESS of - as latter is negative and one can not easily persuade a brain to work towards negatives - it is simply not motivating - Oh and that is technique number 5 !!).