What to Expect When Doctors Transition to Other Fields
Over the years, Disruptive Doctors (DD) has interviewed many doctors who have successfully transitioned to other fields. Here are some of their common experiences in career transitioning.
- Interest in a field guarantees success
Doctors are enjoying their new careers especially when it’s a field they’ve always been interested in. Doctors’ interest in a particular field is often a determinant of their success in that field.
- Charting your preferred career pathway
Coming from clinical medicine, many doctors are pleased with the myriad of career possibilities and options available to them in the industry they have moved to. There’s no fixed pathway like in clinical medicine and that’s a welcome relief to many. They are often free to choose an area they want to focus on and chart their own pathway within that industry.
- Recognition is readily available
Doctors realize that recognition and rewards are readily available to them as long as they’re performing well on their jobs in the industry. Unlike the hospital system, rewards and recognitions in the industry are not based on seniority but rather on merit. As an example, many doctors who have transitioned to the pharma industry are enjoying roles as global and regionals heads of their organizations.
- Letting go of being a doctor.
Changing jobs invariably means letting go of a life that many have known for years. Moving into the industry requires a change in mindset and in the way one engages in work which is very different from the clinical setting. Some doctors who have transitioned do struggle with the loss of their status as doctors.
- Adaptability and flexibility are keys to success in the new job
The main reason some doctors fail in their new career is due to their inability to adapt to changes and to do things differently in a workspace that is very different from the hospital.
- A steep learning curve is required
Doctors need to persevere, and a strong learning curve is required in order to succeed in their new field. Being a good student in school does not necessarily mean a doctor would be outstanding in his/her new career. Jobs different from clinical medicine, often require a vast amount of fast learning. Being a lifelong learner is a good attitude to possess in life.
- Mentors make the journey easier
Mentors could be people who might or might not be doctors but who have been in a particular field that a doctor has transitioned to. They are the best people to offer guidance on what to do and what not to do in the field. Doctors would be well-advised to seek out mentors and most importantly, listen to their advice and experience.
- Impacting larger number of patients than in clinical service
Doctors who have moved to other healthcare sectors or medically related fields in industry often feel that they are impacting more patients than they would have in clinical service. For example, a drug, medical device, or medical app developed by doctors impacts more patients worldwide compared to those patients a doctor sees in the waiting room.
