You’ve made it this far in the guidebook, and therefore in your consideration of a new career. Now it’s time to talk about the topic that most of us idealistically and openly discounted as medical students but have realistically grown accustomed to as clinicians – money.
This is the point where most physicians inching toward the possibility of a career change turn around and head back to their practice. It is where reality finds its way into the fantasy of a new career. If you have a situation where you could make a career change and make more money, you are in the lucky minority. As I have previously discussed, you are moving from being an expert to being a novice. You have an important knowledge base, but you are deficient in certain skill sets of the job that can only come with experience.
In order to move forward with this process, you have to assess your financial situation and determine your short-term and long-term salary requirements. How much would you need for the first year? How much would you need for the next few years, and how quickly would you need to increase your salary? What are your long-term financial goals? How much of a risk are you willing to take in this regard, and is this the best time to take the risk. If you are married and/or have a family, these decisions take on even greater importance.
At the time that I made my career change, I was married with two young daughters and a third on the way. I was still paying off college and medical school loans and had both daughters in private school, and my salary was our only source of income. My wife and I spent a great deal of time assessing our spending from the previous year and our anticipated expenses for the next few years. We decided that we could take a 33% cut in salary for one year, but then wanted to be back to a 20% net loss by the end of the first 2 years. As long as we met that threshold, we would figure out the rest as time went on. We knew that we were taking a calculated risk with the career change. At that time I completely discounted any possibility of making the same amount of money that I would have on my projected future path as a surgeon. We’ll revisit the inaccuracy of that assumption later.
Now you have to decide what you are willing to give up or risk in order to make a change. This can range from reduced savings or a less expensive vacation next year to giving up that leased Jaguar, moving into a smaller house, or switching the kids to public schools. How far would you go for a new career? Only you can answer this one.
I think it’s best to make these calculations before the first job opportunity arises. Having these set goals will reduce the chances of an irrational decision based on the emotional drive to get out of your current career.
