Here is a question to consider:
Are you feeling burned out?
In my work with PAs on career issues, I’ve found that burnout is an increasing concern, even for PAs with relatively few years in practice. As a PA career coach, I work with clients to identify both what makes their work in medicine meaningful and what is currently challenging them to have fulfilling careers.
Help in Navigating the Many Possibilities of PA Practice
A career coach can help you to identify and reconnect with sources of clinical satisfaction and career success–essential for PAs in a wide open field of medical practice, where self-knowledge is the key ingredient for navigating the myriad specialties and settings. If you find yourself overwhelmed by the options and struggling to identify the right place for your best work, this is an excellent issue to consult with a coach about.
For Contract Guidance
Creating a blueprint for sustainable practice through contract negotiation guidance. In my contract-focused consultations with clients, I work with them to identify both their priorities for a healthy contract–whether that be compensation, specific benefits, or a fair schedule that allows for work-life balance. A career coach with PA contract expertise can help you work out contract improvements that will have a positive, concrete impact on your professional wellbeing. Personally, I love troubleshooting PA contracts and helping my clients to improve compensation and benefits along with unravelling unclear sections that could hinder communication about key job expectations.
Optimizing your Professional Materials
I work with PAs every day to update and enhance their CVs, cover letters and LinkedIn pages, and encourage readers to get a second opinion on theirs. It’s often difficult to write about one’s career journey and accomplishments and having expert eyes on the matter can really help. What I try to encourage in my PA client’s professional material edits is a sense of the full scope of their activities and accomplishments, to look for and express the ways they’ve made unique contributions to patient care.
Professional Relationships: Getting Support and Perspective
PA’s work is inherently relational due to team based practice and a dedication to patient advocacy and education. Talking to a supportive career coach can provide helpful and meaningful support when those relationships begin to go awry and even become dysfunctional. An advocate who can provide objective but empathic perspective can make all the difference and help one to face challenging situations and strategize next steps for positive change. It’s easy to lose perspective and get embroiled in a sort of survival mode when work relationships are unhealthy, and I’ve seen the relief and revitalization that can come with a good discussion.
If you are seeking perspective on any of these issues (and they often overlap!) consulting with a career coach can be helpful in many respects. Feel free to reach out to me at jennifer@pacareercoach.net for PA related career support and assistance. Helping PAs to have healthier and more fulfilling careers is my goal.
