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Non-Clinical Careers > Self Evaluate
The Value of a Non-Clinical Personal Inventory
An honest, accurate, in-depth analysis will help physicians
decide if, when, and how to make a change.
By Steven Babitsky, Esq. and James J. Mangraviti, Jr., Esq.
Before any physician should seriously consider a career change into a
non-clinical field, he or she must take a long, honest look at the variables
that go along with the decision. Often, there will be issues that must be
addressed before a physician makes the career leap. If you are considering
entering the non-clinical arena, ask yourself the following:
Do I have the support of my spouse/significant other?
Physicians who have the full and unequivocal support of their spouses are more
likely to successfully transition to a non-clinical career. Encourage your
spouse to open up to elicit his or her true level of support. Spouses may very
well be concerned with:
• Loss or reduction in income
• Change in status/prestige in the community
• Explanations which will have to be provided to friends and family, and
• The perception that a major career change reflects poorly on the spouse and
their marriage.
If you meet spousal resistance, unhappiness, or hostility, you’ll be best served by working to obtain full support, if possible, before
proceeding with their career transition.
How willing are my family and I to relocate?
You will, after discussions with your family, want to decide if you all are
ready, willing, and able to relocate to facilitate your career change. Spouses,
children, and other family members can either encourage a transition or do
everything in their power to make sure that the relocation does not happen. The
relocation decision should include:
• Decision of how far the you are willing to move
• The type of location the family will support: rural, urban, big city, small
town, etc., and
• The best time for the relocation (e.g., summertime when the school year is
complete).
The physician who encourages his/her family to be actively involved in the
relocation process and search is more likely to obtain full familial support.
Why am I unhappy?
You will want to look inward and decide if:
A. You are unhappy and this unhappiness is spilling over into your clinical
practice, or
B. Your clinical practice is the root cause of your unhappiness.
This self-determination can be difficult and may be facilitated by friends,
family, therapists, or others. Once you can say with confidence and assurance
that your clinical practice is the root of your unhappiness, you’ll be ready to start your career transition process.
What don’t I like about my clinical practice?
Move on from your general unhappiness to specific items that you don’t like about your clinical practice/job. Listing the specific items will force
you to come to grips with what precisely is making you unhappy. A completed “don’t like” list will start to crystallize your thinking, forcing you to analyze everything
from compensation and call to lifestyle. An accurate, honest, detailed,
in-depth list will help you move toward your career goals. In addition, the
list will help you avoid taking a new position which has “don’t like” components.
How is my clinical practice/job affecting my family life?
Go beyond the “I am never home” superficial analysis to include family responsibilities, trust, empathy, and
beyond. Engage your spouse and family, and encourage them to provide their take
on how “their family life” is affected by your work. The compilation of each and every family member’s input can and often does provide dramatic and powerful evidence of the need to
make a career transition. In addition, getting the spouse and children
verbalize their family’s dysfunction will help them see the need for a career transition.
What is holding me back from leaving clinical medicine?
Make a list of reasons for not proceeding with a career
transition. The list should be divided into:
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____ Ability to Deal w/ Complex Situations
____ Ability to Motivate People
____ Ability to Multi-Task
____ Ability to Prioritize
____ Ability to Work Independently
____ Analytical Abilities
____ Attention to Detail
____ Calm under Fire
____ Commitment to Job
____ Communication Skills
____ Computer Literacy
____ Computer Skills
____ Deal Successfully with Adversity
____ Deal Well with Stress/Pressure
____ Dedicated
____ Dependable
____ Driven by Excellence
____ Excellent Interpersonal Skills
____ Excellent Judgment
____ Excellent Presentation Skills
____ Excellent Project Management Skills
____ Excellent Written Skills
____ Flexibility
____ Good Active Listener
____ Handle Fast Paced Work Environment
____ Hard Worker
____ High Level of Integrity and Honesty
____ Intelligence
____ Leadership Skills
____ Love New Challenges
____ Manage Functional Groups
____ Management Experience
____ Meet or Exceed Time Deadlines
____ Negotiation Skills
____ Passion for Learning
____ Pragmatic
____ Provide Leadership
____ Provide Solutions
____ Public Speaking
____ Quick Study
____ Record of Success
____ Teacher
____ Team Player
____ Tenacity and perseverance
____ Work in Matrixed Environment
____ Works Well as Part of a Team
____ Works Well in Time-Sensitive
Environment
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A. Excuses: reasons that are not substantial, and
B. Specific, difficult issues that need to be dealt with before you can and should
proceed.
As you diagnose the “excuses” that are not legitimately holding you back and you resolve the difficult
issues, you’re making progress on your career transition. Keep in mind, though, that it’s not necessary to wait until each and every issue is resolved before proceeding
with the transition.
Whom have I told that I am considering leaving clinical medicine?
The quickest way to determine where you are on the career transition continuum
is to reflect on whom, if anyone, you have told about your unhappiness,
thoughts, desires, and plans. Telling your spouse/significant other is where
most physicians start. Physicians who then tell friends, parents, colleagues,
and eventually employers, move closer to the end of the continuum. Physicians who tell more and more people about their career plans, move closer
and closer to making a final transition decision.
What are my skills and abilities?
As you make the transition into business or another non-clinical position, you’ll need to accurately and honestly analyze your current skills and abilities.
The ability to diagnose where you are strong and where you are weak will help
you:
• Make decisions about viable career options,
• Obtain needed training or education, and
• Prepare for and excel at future non-clinical interviews.
Ruthlessly and honestly critique your skills and abilities in the following
areas. Rate yourself (and, if possible, obtain input from trusted others), on a
1-10 level, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest.
See Chart at Right >
Once you’ve honestly and accurately rated your skills and abilities, select the crucial
areas in which you are weak and actively work to improve them. For example: If
you are not a good public speaker, this could hamper your career options. You
will want to obtain additional training and experience. The same can be done in
areas such as negotiation skills, etc. Burnishing your skills and abilities can
be done contemporaneously with other career transition decisions to reduce the
length of your transition process.
Leaving all other considerations aside, which five jobs might I enjoy?
Many physicians considering career changes are attempting to recapture the
enthusiasm they had in medical school and their first years of practice.
Physicians who identify and pursue their passions are moving toward career
satisfaction and are not simply running away from clinical medicine. If you can
talk sincerely about your passion at a non-clinical interview, you’ll have a distinct advantage over the physician who is perceived as being “burned out.”
What help do I need in my career transition?
Identify, what help, if any, you feel you need in the transition process. This
may include administrative help, or help from an accountant or lawyer, or ideas
from—or even a brief partnership with—a mentor. Reach out to friends and colleagues for help as well, and ask them for
contacts in a new city if you are planning to move.
Once you accurately complete and utilize a career personal inventory, you’ll feel ready to take the non-clinical career leap. And you’ll be best positioned to make that successful career transition. UO
Steven Babitsky, Esq., and James J. Mangraviti Jr., Esq., teach at the annual
SEAK Non-Clinical Careers for Physicians Conference. This year's conference
will be held in Chicago on Sep 12-13, 2009. For a free copy of the book, Do You Feel Like You Wasted All That Training? Questions from Doctors Considering a Career
Change, e-mail stevenbabitsky@seak.com or visit www.seak.com.
