Why doctors seek career guidance

Here are just some of the reasons​

• I have just started in a career that will last over 40 years and I want to know I am making the best choices for me
• I would like to spend more time with my family and do work I find satisfying 
• I do not get on with my partners - I think I need a change of location/ practice
• I have not worked for five years - how and where to start getting back
• My health has given some severe restrictions to working but I am still ambitious
• I want to start a portfolio career but don't know what to add in
• I don't know what I want from my career but my family keep pushing me to decide
• I am definitely at a crossroads but I can't see the way
• I have been forced into medical early retirement but I still have a brain and want to use it
• I want to work with the disabled but my current role does not allow that
• I'd like to spend some time abroad but I am worried I might not get a job on my return
• I enjoy my work but I often feel that I have some talents that are not used and I'd like to use them
• I don't feel I have yet found my "niche" and I keep changing route in order to find it.. tiring!!

As you can see from this small number of comments - career support is not always sought because radical change is wanted. It can be just as relevant for exploring potential in a current role or returning to work that one did before after time away from work. Thus career change is a much much broader term than most people use it for. It can refer to anything that makes a current career better. Changing attitude, changing location, changing hours - are all elements of career change.

Many times a medic will say they want a major career change when in fact what they really want is to find a way of working that enables them to gain satisfaction and feel they are making a difference. This may at times be achieved without a radical leap.