Need career opinions

[MidnightDream]

Hi, friends.

In September, I started studying towards a healthcare degree - Something that I'd wanted to do almost my entire life. However, I'm (obviously) not in the best place mentally, and am also physically disabled, so I ended up basically getting temporarily kicked out to 'focus on my health'. Now, I need to decide whether or not to go back.

Truth is, I really struggled. Even with adjustments in place, placements were SO hard on my body - I was in so much pain all the time, and on the rare occasions that I wasn't for whatever reason, I was anxious about being in pain. I struggled with the pressure, the long hours, the impact I was having just by being there, the clinical white lights, the rules and regulations, the ever increasing responsibility. However, since I left, I've been working a nice little office job, and tbh I've started to gaslight myself into thinking maybe it wasn't that bad, and maybe I should try going back?

If I do go back - I'm looking at a life of being under intense pressure, in a lot of pain, with not much time for my family. In exchange for shitty pay, no real progression, and a system that simply does not give a fuck about its staff. But I love it, and I can't help that I love it.

If I don't go back - I can work part time hours earning more than I would as a student, loads of time to focus on my health, no pressure or anxiety, and room for progression. But, it's not what I love, it's not fulfilling, and it's just overall meh.

Do I prioritise my health and wellbeing - and overall probably be happier?
Or do I prioritise the subject that I love - and maybe end up miserable

I feel like if I make the wrong decision - My life will be over. I won't want carry on. So a lot of pressure riding on this

 

[carac]

Hi there, I don't know anything about your physical condition or your pain symptoms other than what you have mentioned but I suspect that even though you may have an underlying condition the pain can be triggered or increased due to things like anxiety, stress or frustration.

If you decide to go back into healthcare without adressing the underlying issues I fear the following will happen; You will go to work get anxious about something which will trigger your pain, this will make you more anxious and you worry about the pain which will cause more pain and you will just get stuck in a cycle of anxiety and pain.
There maybe options where you can slowly ease yourself in and find a role that you feel safe in but it's very difficult. I was in a similar situation and all the adjustments in the world wouldn't help me because psychologically I was in the wrong place and had too much physical pain.

If this sounds like nonsense then please disregard, If you would like to explore it further I would be happy to chat with you.

 

[Gleysson]

So. I work in healthcare. I work in urgent/emergency care. It's a rough job. Uninterrupted 12h shifts of nonstop patients. Death, pain, suffering, terminal illness, mental illness, desperation. It's tiring. But right now there is nothing that makes me happier. This is where I'm supposed to be at. And I intend on becoming an ocological surgeon. Surgery in itself is physically exhausting. Long hours standing, sometimes hunched over and absolute pressure of a life in your hands. And I'm a very tall person and I am very much above my ideal weight. I can't stand for more than 30 minutes without serious discomfort. Oncological surgery is even more tiring sometimes because of the required precision and intricacies. This is my choice.

I am dating an ear nose throat doctor that also lives in the crazy healthcare/surgery hours. This is our chosen life. We don't have much time for ourselves. We work different hours, so we rarely meet in our own home and when we do, we're just too tired to do anything. We rarely see our families. We may not have time to actually have children (not for the foreseeable future) and for us to have a decent work schedule, we either have to form and lead a team, so we stay home and manage everyone or become so well known we can charge rich people a lot of money, work for a few days and relax. And to achieve this, we'll have to bust our asses off for at least 15-20 more years at least.

But the other thing is, both of us are seriously adherent of our public healthcare system. We take no joy in doing surgery for rich people. It's just business. What drives us is to bring high quality medicine to those who have never actually been seen. This pays off much more than money (but we need money to live). So even if we do the "charge the rich" thing, the remaining time we'll be focused in doing voluntary/public practicing to vulnerable people. So even less time available.

We chose this life. It has many drawbacks. If you're not willing to give up on family time, holidays and festivities. I do not recommend it. For us, it's what makes us feel fulfilled, so the disadvantages don't actually surpass our goals. We are building our lives around it. And it takes its toll sometimes. We see our school friends that took other career paths going on holiday, parties, having fun. And my gf is just sleeping early because tomorrow surgery starts at 6am and I'm staying up late because I work night shifts.

I'm talking about a doctor's perspective. If you're thinking on becoming a nurse, then it can be even more demanding sometimes. Because of the public approach and disrespect towards nurses. It always drives me mad how much belittlement they suffer. And you will too have to work long hours to pay your bills because the pay gap is just absurd. Not taking into consideration your physical restriction

Buuuuuuut, healthcare is an absurdly vast career path. I think there is a sweet spot that takes into consideration your physical restriction, the work hours and pay. Radiology. Or image diagnostics. You can be a technician for CT or MRI, PET SCANS and such and work the machines. It's still healthcare related and you can be seated. Still have a certain contact with the patient.

All things considered. All of the above are purely my opinion. From what I see and work with. But I work in a medium sized city of a third world country.

Ask A Nurse: What Types Of Jobs Can Nurses With Physical Disabilities Get? | NurseJournal.org

Do you have a physical limitation but want to continue practicing nursing? Here's a list of 15 ways you can use your medical expertise.

nursejournal.org

This link seems to address your topic and may bring further clarity.

I wrote all of this to give you a perspective on what healthcare life can be. For me, it pays off tenfold. But I've abdicated of many things. Family-wise. Socially-wise. And health-wise because I'm mostly too tired to take care of myself.

The choice between family or work shouldn't exist in an ideal world, first of all. But unfortunately it comes by. I think either path you choose will bring you some regrets, if you've posed your view as you did. But I don't think all decisions are final. I don't know how old you are, but I've had a friend start medschool when he was 31, when most of us start at 18 or 19. He experimented first. Took the healthier path, saw that, for him, it wasn't fulfilling, and switched. This is by no means to incite you to go to healthcare. I think you may have time to try both. It's not fatal. There is time for experimenting. You are already at your "safe" "meh" job. Leave healthcare behind. Live like you are living now for a while. See how it makes you feel. Healthcare will nag you, of course. But see if it's manageable. I think your personal health should come above all.

If you have family values, and intend on raising happy and fulfilled children, more money does not bring more happiness to these kids. Quality time does. I was raised among the wealthiest kids in my state, maybe country, even though my family was not that rich. My parents worked their asses off to pay for our school. And we absolutely missed them. My father was completely absent since I was 8 years old until I was 19. I have no actual relationship with him. It's just cordialities. He didn't raise me. And today I learned to live with it, but it pained me deeply.

To sum up. There will always be drawbacks. I think you have time to experiment with both. And if you make your decision, after experimenting, make it final. Don't look back. Don't fret on what ifs. You made your choice, go head first.


Hope this helped. If you want to talk further, PM me and we can talk more

 

[MidnightDream]

Hi there, I don't know anything about your physical condition or your pain symptoms other than what you have mentioned but I suspect that even though you may have an underlying condition the pain can be triggered or increased due to things like anxiety, stress or frustration.

If you decide to go back into healthcare without adressing the underlying issues I fear the following will happen; You will go to work get anxious about something which will trigger your pain, this will make you more anxious and you worry about the pain which will cause more pain and you will just get stuck in a cycle of anxiety and pain.
There maybe options where you can slowly ease yourself in and find a role that you feel safe in but it's very difficult. I was in a similar situation and all the adjustments in the world wouldn't help me because psychologically I was in the wrong place and had too much physical pain.

If this sounds like nonsense then please disregard, If you would like to explore it further I would be happy to chat with you.

You're absolutely spot on tbh, thank you for for taking the time to comment as I feel like this is the no bs perspective I really needed

So. I work in healthcare. I work in urgent/emergency care. It's a rough job. Uninterrupted 12h shifts of nonstop patients. Death, pain, suffering, terminal illness, mental illness, desperation. It's tiring. But right now there is nothing that makes me happier. This is where I'm supposed to be at. And I intend on becoming an ocological surgeon. Surgery in itself is physically exhausting. Long hours standing, sometimes hunched over and absolute pressure of a life in your hands. And I'm a very tall person and I am very much above my ideal weight. I can't stand for more than 30 minutes without serious discomfort. Oncological surgery is even more tiring sometimes because of the required precision and intricacies. This is my choice.

I am dating an ear nose throat doctor that also lives in the crazy healthcare/surgery hours. This is our chosen life. We don't have much time for ourselves. We work different hours, so we rarely meet in our own home and when we do, we're just too tired to do anything. We rarely see our families. We may not have time to actually have children (not for the foreseeable future) and for us to have a decent work schedule, we either have to form and lead a team, so we stay home and manage everyone or become so well known we can charge rich people a lot of money, work for a few days and relax. And to achieve this, we'll have to bust our asses off for at least 15-20 more years at least.

But the other thing is, both of us are seriously adherent of our public healthcare system. We take no joy in doing surgery for rich people. It's just business. What drives us is to bring high quality medicine to those who have never actually been seen. This pays off much more than money (but we need money to live). So even if we do the "charge the rich" thing, the remaining time we'll be focused in doing voluntary/public practicing to vulnerable people. So even less time available.

We chose this life. It has many drawbacks. If you're not willing to give up on family time, holidays and festivities. I do not recommend it. For us, it's what makes us feel fulfilled, so the disadvantages don't actually surpass our goals. We are building our lives around it. And it takes its toll sometimes. We see our school friends that took other career paths going on holiday, parties, having fun. And my gf is just sleeping early because tomorrow surgery starts at 6am and I'm staying up late because I work night shifts.

I'm talking about a doctor's perspective. If you're thinking on becoming a nurse, then it can be even more demanding sometimes. Because of the public approach and disrespect towards nurses. It always drives me mad how much belittlement they suffer. And you will too have to work long hours to pay your bills because the pay gap is just absurd. Not taking into consideration your physical restriction

Buuuuuuut, healthcare is an absurdly vast career path. I think there is a sweet spot that takes into consideration your physical restriction, the work hours and pay. Radiology. Or image diagnostics. You can be a technician for CT or MRI, PET SCANS and such and work the machines. It's still healthcare related and you can be seated. Still have a certain contact with the patient.

All things considered. All of the above are purely my opinion. From what I see and work with. But I work in a medium sized city of a third world country.

Ask A Nurse: What Types Of Jobs Can Nurses With Physical Disabilities Get? | NurseJournal.org

Do you have a physical limitation but want to continue practicing nursing? Here's a list of 15 ways you can use your medical expertise.

nursejournal.org

This link seems to address your topic and may bring further clarity.

I wrote all of this to give you a perspective on what healthcare life can be. For me, it pays off tenfold. But I've abdicated of many things. Family-wise. Socially-wise. And health-wise because I'm mostly too tired to take care of myself.

The choice between family or work shouldn't exist in an ideal world, first of all. But unfortunately it comes by. I think either path you choose will bring you some regrets, if you've posed your view as you did. But I don't think all decisions are final. I don't know how old you are, but I've had a friend start medschool when he was 31, when most of us start at 18 or 19. He experimented first. Took the healthier path, saw that, for him, it wasn't fulfilling, and switched. This is by no means to incite you to go to healthcare. I think you may have time to try both. It's not fatal. There is time for experimenting. You are already at your "safe" "meh" job. Leave healthcare behind. Live like you are living now for a while. See how it makes you feel. Healthcare will nag you, of course. But see if it's manageable. I think your personal health should come above all.

If you have family values, and intend on raising happy and fulfilled children, more money does not bring more happiness to these kids. Quality time does. I was raised among the wealthiest kids in my state, maybe country, even though my family was not that rich. My parents worked their asses off to pay for our school. And we absolutely missed them. My father was completely absent since I was 8 years old until I was 19. I have no actual relationship with him. It's just cordialities. He didn't raise me. And today I learned to live with it, but it pained me deeply.

To sum up. There will always be drawbacks. I think you have time to experiment with both. And if you make your decision, after experimenting, make it final. Don't look back. Don't fret on what ifs. You made your choice, go head first.


Hope this helped. If you want to talk further, PM me and we can talk more

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience and perspective. It's a little different for me, I think, due to the country I'm in and the field of healthcare I was studying being somewhat specialised from the beginning. But even with those distinctions, your insight has been truly valuable and I think I do need to spend some time really thinking about what I want out of life - and on the back of that, I really appreciate the point you've made of me still having time. You're absolutely right, and I appreciate the reminder.

 

[carac]

You're absolutely spot on tbh, thank you for for taking the time to comment as I feel like this is the no bs perspective I really needed

You are most welcome. On a positive, don't think this is something you have to live with or will get progressively worse with age there are lots of things you could try. Check out Nicole sachs, she does long form podcasts or shorts on YouTube, one thing she suggests is journaling or journal speak where you write down you deepest darkest feelings and fears then throw them away.

 

[MidnightDream]

You are most welcome. On a positive, don't think this is something you have to live with or will get progressively worse with age there are lots of things you could try. Check out Nicole sachs, she does long form podcasts or shorts on YouTube, one thing she suggests is journaling or journal speak where you write down you deepest darkest feelings and fears then throw them away.

Thank you, I think once I stop feeling as though my body is holding me back from things, I won't feel so negative about it. At least I hope, haha. I'll definitely check her out, thank you for the recommendation!