If You Can Go Anywhere and Work in Any Setting, What Would You Do?

[AD04]

Looking to transition to the real world. No obligations. No restrictions. It is kind of daunting that there are so many options. Got some offers already but I'm not impressed.

If you can work anywhere, where would you go? If you can work in any setting, what would you do?

Additional question: For those who set up private practices, what is the best source on how to do that?

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[Attending1985]

I would work in a hospital based system doing meds and psychotherapy in an urban area in the Midwest (to be near family)

 

[WingedOx]

I would work in a hospital based system doing meds and psychotherapy in an urban area in the Midwest (to be near family)

Whelp. You just described my life. Nice to know I've achieved perfection in my mid 30s. It's all downhill from here.

 

[Bartelby]

I might live near family. Alternatively, I might find a nice medium-sized city where the cost of living and traffic are not out of control, there is plenty to do and see, walkable, and quality of life is generally high. Personally, I think I would look for something near a coast in a warmer climate, but could be open to other options close to desirable nature (like the desert Southwest, Colorado, etc). I would also look for a politically liberal area (my own personal preference).

For work, I like a range of settings so I would look into what is in-demand and go from there. An academic affiliation (even volunteer faculty) is also nice.

I would live in a nice but relatively modest place near where I work, and save aggressively. I would invest those savings, mostly in index funds. 5-10 years down the road, I would consider scaling back to 4-day weeks or something similar.

All that said, once you have a significant other you should get ready to compromise!

 

[TexasPhysician]

Any setting? I’m not sure that such a job exists, but FT psychiatrist for a professional sports team or wealthy family. Obviously perks would include free travel on their trips and watching from the field.

 

[Trismegistus4]

Low-census inpatient work. Someplace where they're desperate enough that they'd treat me as a full-time employee for seeing something like eight patients per day. I could get out of there by 2 p.m., noon on a light day, and no drive-through, back-to-back churn of outpatient appointments, no endless stream of FMLA forms and short-term disability evaluations in my inbox, and no adult ADHD evals.

 

[WingedOx]

Low-census inpatient work. Someplace where they're desperate enough that they'd treat me as a full-time employee for seeing something like eight patients per day. I could get out of there by 2 p.m., noon on a light day, and no drive-through, back-to-back churn of outpatient appointments, no endless stream of FMLA forms and short-term disability evaluations in my inbox, and no adult ADHD evals.

Just gotta figure out how they'd handle call.

 

[PsyDr]

Any setting? I’m not sure that such a job exists, but FT psychiatrist for a professional sports team or wealthy family. Obviously perks would include free travel on their trips and watching from the field.

I am friends with 2 psychiatrists who each hold one of these jobs. Sports team guy's wife is the breadwinner though.

 

[TexasPhysician]

I am friends with 2 psychiatrists who each hold one of these jobs. Sports team guy's wife is the breadwinner though.

If they ever think about quitting, I’d appreciate a PM.

 

[FlowRate]

Any setting? I’m not sure that such a job exists, but FT psychiatrist for a professional sports team or wealthy family. Obviously perks would include free travel on their trips and watching from the field.

I forget exactly how the story goes, but one of my attendings ended up getting a lead on one of the local sports teams, only to get shot down by the medical director of the team to the tune of something like "who the **** does this guy think he is?" Sounds like it's an old boys network deal, at least in that particular case.

Low-census inpatient work. Someplace where they're desperate enough that they'd treat me as a full-time employee for seeing something like eight patients per day. I could get out of there by 2 p.m., noon on a light day, and no drive-through, back-to-back churn of outpatient appointments, no endless stream of FMLA forms and short-term disability evaluations in my inbox, and no adult ADHD evals.

Gotta say some of my inpatient attendings basically have this. 9 patient census cap, two PG trainees and potentially some med students. They could probably leave at 2-3PM every day if they wanted to but often stick around to be helpful to the residents.

 

[Trismegistus4]

Just gotta figure out how they'd handle call.

I'd be happy to do call multiple times per week in exchange for a schedule like that.

Gotta say some of my inpatient attendings basically have this. 9 patient census cap, two PG trainees and potentially some med students. They could probably leave at 2-3PM every day if they wanted to but often stick around to be helpful to the residents.

A few months ago I got the following description of a job from a locum tenens company in my email, advertising $13,500 per week:

"You'll work M-F, 8a-5p and can plan to see 6-8 patients per day. You'll work three weeks on, one week off and provide night and weekend call coverage. If you know a colleague that could split the schedule with you, that will also be considered."

$13,500 per week for seeing 6-8 patients per day?! Granted, the way they've phrased it it sounds like you'd be working 21 days in a row, but given the potential for frequently leaving at noon, it'd be a worthy trade-off to work that job for 1 year. I could totally pay off my student loans and save up enough money to make a hefty down payment on a really nice house, then leave. It's also possible that this wasn't an accurate description of the job, because of course these locums recruiters aren't doctors and don't know how hospitals or clinics actually work, but still... that job quickly dropped out of the listings. Somebody pounced on it.

 

[st2205]

Any setting? I’m not sure that such a job exists, but FT psychiatrist for a professional sports team or wealthy family. Obviously perks would include free travel on their trips and watching from the field.

Which team? I’d like to work for the Jazz. Maybe do that for a year or two and then move into the front office. Then be GM.

 

[FatherPsychiatry]

A few months ago I got the following description of a job from a locum tenens company in my email, advertising $13,500 per week:

"You'll work M-F, 8a-5p and can plan to see 6-8 patients per day. You'll work three weeks on, one week off and provide night and weekend call coverage. If you know a colleague that could split the schedule with you, that will also be considered."

$13,500 per week for seeing 6-8 patients per day?! Granted, the way they've phrased it it sounds like you'd be working 21 days in a row, but given the potential for frequently leaving at noon, it'd be a worthy trade-off to work that job for 1 year. I could totally pay off my student loans and save up enough money to make a hefty down payment on a really nice house, then leave. It's also possible that this wasn't an accurate description of the job, because of course these locums recruiters aren't doctors and don't know how hospitals or clinics actually work, but still... that job quickly dropped out of the listings. Somebody pounced on it.

Comes out to about $450k / yr which sounds really good, but I'd be curious just how intensive the night/weekend call coverage is.

 

[Trismegistus4]

Comes out to about $450k / yr which sounds really good, but I'd be curious just how intensive the night/weekend call coverage is.

$526k per year by my calculations, assuming working 3 out of every 4 weeks means you work 39 weeks per year. And I had the same thought about call, but honestly, if I'm telling myself I'm only doing this for 1 year, I'll field a few phone calls in the middle of the night if it meant I got to be home with my feet up on the coffee table playing video games at 2:30 PM that day, and that I know I'll only have to work 4-5 hours tomorrow before doing the same thing.

 

[clausewitz2]

$526k per year by my calculations, assuming working 3 out of every 4 weeks means you work 39 weeks per year. And I had the same thought about call, but honestly, if I'm telling myself I'm only doing this for 1 year, I'll field a few phone calls in the middle of the night if it meant I got to be home with my feet up on the coffee table playing video games at 2:30 PM that day, and that I know I'll only have to work 4-5 hours tomorrow before doing the same thing.

I think maybe one of the reasons these sorts of jobs even come available is because this schedule sounds like a special kind of hell if you have a family or kids. I am assuming from the fact that getting off work means basically just playing video games that that is not you right now, so makes sense thst seems super attractive. For those with outside obligations a highly predictable schedule with no evenings or weekends is a blessing.

 

[Trismegistus4]

I think maybe one of the reasons these sorts of jobs even come available is because this schedule sounds like a special kind of hell if you have a family or kids. I am assuming from the fact that getting off work means basically just playing video games that that is not you right now, so makes sense thst seems super attractive. For those with outside obligations a highly predictable schedule with no evenings or weekends is a blessing.

I agree, who would want to work 21 days straight? Talk about missing your kids' soccer games. That's why I say I'd only do it for a limited length of time. But as I read over the job description again, I can't help but wonder if it has some essential inaccuracies. How can you work 8-5 seeing only 6-8 inpatients? Seeing that many inpatients only takes half that long. Are they going to chain you to your desk and not let you leave the hospital until 5 even if you finish at noon? Or maybe the quoted $13,500 figure is based on an hourly rate of $240 per hour and an 8 hour day, but it turns out they're not going to let you bill an 8 hour day, because if you see 6 patients and are done at noon they're not going to let you sit around until 5pm just to bill for the time. There could be several catches here. But as I said, someone jumped on it.

 

[TexasPhysician]

I agree, who would want to work 21 days straight? Talk about missing your kids' soccer games. That's why I say I'd only do it for a limited length of time. But as I read over the job description again, I can't help but wonder if it has some essential inaccuracies. How can you work 8-5 seeing only 6-8 inpatients? Seeing that many inpatients only takes half that long. Are they going to chain you to your desk and not let you leave the hospital until 5 even if you finish at noon? Or maybe the quoted $13,500 figure is based on an hourly rate of $240 per hour and an 8 hour day, but it turns out they're not going to let you bill an 8 hour day, because if you see 6 patients and are done at noon they're not going to let you sit around until 5pm just to bill for the time. There could be several catches here. But as I said, someone jumped on it.

I don’t have specifics here, but I’ve seen inpatient jobs at state facilities that require a huge administrative burden. There would be meetings to discuss and document the need for long-term hospitalization, individualized treatment plan meetings, contacting family, court appointments, etc that added significant hours to the job.

 

[DD214_DOC]

Move to Nashville and become the personal psychiatrist for a handful of the big country music stars and their kids. I have no doubt the near-constant absence of one of their parents due to touring and related demands creates problems.

 

[Trismegistus4]

Move to Nashville and become the personal psychiatrist for a handful of the big country music stars and their kids. I have no doubt the near-constant absence of one of their parents due to touring and related demands creates problems.

Everybody's moving to Nashville, so I think it's saturated. I interviewed for a job there and that was the only job I interviewed for that I was not offered.