Alternatives to Clinical Practice?

[Chimed]

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I was wondering if folks could weigh in on additional roles that psychiatrists can get involved in besides clinical work. For example, research is an obvious one. But what about other areas?

I love clinical work, but can not do it full time. I'll likely end up in a research/clinical route and work in academics. But I'm still curious what other options are out there if research somehow falls through.

Thanks!!!

(BTW, I did a search for this and couldn't find anything. But I really stink and finding stuff through the search engine...)

 

[Manicsleep]

Do it for a little while then make enough money to buy a business.
Run a business...which can or cannot be in the medical field.


There is also bird watching, stamp collecting, photography...


BTW...what do you mean full time. For me thats anywhere from 60-90 hours a week with about 10-20 hours of goofing off. I also work from home a lot. Not the most efficient but it allows me to work a lot and not get tired.
Technically you only need about 80,000 if you have a lot of loans in a decent city. Maybe 100k in california or equivalent to live a good life.

 

[digitlnoize]

What about mixing things up a bit? For example, I know someone who has a day job doing C&A inpatient, but dabbles in forensics on the side. Or work part time for private practice and do C-L on the side. Would that make things better?

If not, maybe you'd simply be happy working part time? There's nothing wrong with being willing to take a pay cut in order to be happy, if that's what's important to you.

What about different settings? VA + Inpatient + Private practice, each for 15h/wk would mix things up nicely...

 

[whopper]

Agree with the above. It could be that you're in the wrong clinical setting. I personally get sick of a clinical setting if it's the only one I'm doing and I keep doing it for several months. Doing other things could shake things up a bit and add variety.

I'm currently doing a mix of a forensic unit, group homes, outpatient private practice, and occasional lecturing. I like the mix. Had I just been doing one, it would drive me nuts.

 

[Manicsleep]

I would definitely not limit it to one setting if possible. Even as purely outpatient, you can do a lot such as psychotherapy, groups, med management, certain types of consults etc. You may make a little less but the job satisfaction is huge. You can add in a little administration, teaching, research etc if you want as well. Those are all things that are interesting although the academic life is difficult.

Have a good relationship with your spouse (or whatever) family and friends, travel, keep up with academic relationships/make new ones and you will be fine. Its the little known secret to life. 😉

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Chimed, as you know, I am a failed researcher, due more to internal than external factors. One thing I like about my current job is that I work in both inpatient and (two) outpatient settings, and have slipped into an educational niche as well. When I get burned out at one thing, I just gear down a notch, go through the motions for awhile there, and focus my emotional energy on one of the other pieces of the pie.

Also--keep connected to your life outside of psychiatry!

 

[Chimed]

Thanks, everyone, for your input!!!

I never thought that maybe changing up my clinical situation may be important...Changing from something like CL to clinic is an important thing to think about and could be the key if I ended not doing research.

At this point, I like research, but am not sure I love it. I love clinical work, but, again, it starts to drain on me if I'm doing it everyday. In fact, I think I'm much better in clinic when not doing it all day, every day. I really like going back and forth from research to clinic (I'm in a research track and split my time up). Research may still be my best option, but I'd like to see what else is out there.

What about other options that utilize our psychiatric background, but not directly seeing patients? Administrative is one. I know about research...Other thoughts? Maybe that doesn't exist?

 

[sunlioness]

You could be a peer claims reviewer for an insurance company.

 

[TexasPhysician]

Go on a pharm speaking tour?

 

[Manicsleep]

One thing about research, its really hard to diversify. I don't know other experiences but I have my own as well as others in my family, friends and colleagues. Sure you can play around with the research and do some research here and there with someone else being the PI. But if you want to be the PI, better have some focus and be prepared to have your nose to the grind even when you don't want it.

As an aside, this is the scary part of being an employee at a place like Kaiser. If you want to work in an easy place where someone else makes your decisions, go for it. But, you will be efficient, which means doing the same thing 25 times a day, 500 times a month, whether you like it or not. You would be surprised how much variety you can get in a private business. You are an administrator, potentially a business owner, a boss, a colleague and a physician who has all the options available to them...eventually.

 

[Chimed]

One thing about research, its really hard to diversify. I don't know other experiences but I have my own as well as others in my family, friends and colleagues. Sure you can play around with the research and do some research here and there with someone else being the PI. But if you want to be the PI, better have some focus and be prepared to have your nose to the grind even when you don't want it.

As an aside, this is the scary part of being an employee at a place like Kaiser. If you want to work in an easy place where someone else makes your decisions, go for it. But, you will be efficient, which means doing the same thing 25 times a day, 500 times a month, whether you like it or not. You would be surprised how much variety you can get in a private business. You are an administrator, potentially a business owner, a boss, a colleague and a physician who has all the options available to them...eventually.

Thanks for your input. This is exactly why I'm keeping my options open. I'm a hard worker, but I'm aware that doing research is not something you can do half-way. Yes, private practice could be a good option if I don't go the academic route, but I think I'd really miss the academic environment and working on a multi-disciplinary team.

 

[surftheiop]

Don't a lot of school districts and universities have directors of mental health services who mostly do administrative and case/policy review work?