UKBouldering.com

Advice needed: GP wife wants to quit, any suggestions? (Read 8844 times)

Scouse D

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 1367
  • Karma: +73/-2
Hi UKB hive mind.

My wife is burnt out. Shes been GP for 15years and she wants out. She is an exceptional human and a wonderful GP but the job makes her sad and I want her to stop doing it and start living again. So here are my questions:

Does anyone have any experience of moving out of medicine?

Does anyone want to employ a medical expert with wonderful problem solving and team working skills with an incredibly agile mind? (Worth a try)

Does anyone work in other roles maybe within the nhs where you think the skills of a gp would be an asset?(she likes the idea of speech and language stuff/audiology/other specialism- shes not averse to the idea of training)

We are a bit stuck here as I know there must be employers out there that would snap her up but dont know how to go about finding out.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

tomtom

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 20282
  • Karma: +641/-11
7-8 years ago MrsTT quit as a probation officer. She’d been one for 17-18 years... 60 hour weeks - taking on too much lots of grief responsibility and having to deal with some pretty nasty and manipulative clients. (For less than 30k a year..).

She went and did a part time MSc in counselling and now works as an NHS counsellor. Which is far far less stress and she gets a lot out of her job.

On reflection it took c.5 years for her to get over leaving and moving to a new career - almost like a PTSD response...

But worth it. That’s kind of what I’m getting at...

Scouse D

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 1367
  • Karma: +73/-2
Thanks tomtom, that's good to hear. I get the PTSD reference, she has been institutionalised and cant really see a life outside medicine.

JamieG

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 1278
  • Karma: +80/-0
Does she have any interest in teaching medicine? Or is that too similar? Quite often university roles for teaching come up, which would use a lot of her knowledge but in a totally different context. But maybe she wants totally out of medicine.

Scouse D

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 1367
  • Karma: +73/-2
She doesn't rule it out but not overly keen

webbo

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 5028
  • Karma: +141/-13
My mates wife was a GP and ended up as the senior partner at the practice. She found it too stressful tried a few other things before ending up being GP at the University medical centre. Although meant she was still practicing medicine it didn’t have all the other stuff that goes with a normal GP practice.
Having spent 30 years working in the NHS as  a mental health nurse, I think you hit a point where you feel the need to get out before you explode. However it’s a case of can you afford to do so, what else could you do and how long is it till I can get my pension.

Scouse D

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 1367
  • Karma: +73/-2
Cheers webbo, shes currently a salaried gp rather than a partner and really just wants out of general practice

Coops_13

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 1206
  • Karma: +75/-0
    • YouTube
Has she looked into healthcare consultancies? I know my firm has hired medical doctors in the past as domain experts in the field though operating in a management consulting capacity working with hospitals and trusts etc. PM me if interested and I can share a bit more

nik at work

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 3586
  • Karma: +312/-2
Is her practice good or shit?

A friend was a partner in a shit practice, making fuck all and watching the business go down the toilet. Obviously got stressed to hell, took time out and now locums. No real stress, rediscovered the joy of doing actual medicine and earns more for less work.

Obviously don’t know the finer details of your situation but just making the “shift of perspective can help” point.

Sorry if this is not helpful, I have read your just wants to get out message loud and clear. I’ll shut up now...

webbo

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 5028
  • Karma: +141/-13
Is there an area of practice she likes Psychiatry, Child care or the like and look to move into one of those areas as staff grade doctor. It might mean a drop in pay but a lot less stress.

Scouse D

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 1367
  • Karma: +73/-2
Thank you so much for all of this. Nik, dont apologise, I personally think this is an option but currently she is adamant she wants out. She says her practice is ok but it clearly isnt, she is just a loyal person who is also of the mindset that "every gp surgery " is the same whicbnis clearly not the case. (As a teacher, the school you teach in and the people you work with are what is important, I'm certain this is the case in gp too).
Webbo, there are certainly areas that she prefers, the thing that gets to her is the relentless stream of patients with whom she has 10minutes to make pretty full on decisions so never feels satisfied with the job she does. She comes home so burdened and wracked with guilt for no discernible reason.
Coops, this sort of role sounds interesting and the sort of thing that she wont have considered before. I'll drop you a pm.

Thanks again everyone

James Malloch

Online
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 1686
  • Karma: +62/-1
the thing that gets to her is the relentless stream of patients with whom she has 10minutes to make pretty full on decisions so never feels satisfied with the job she does.

Not that I know anything about this, but my friend works as a dentist (albeit in the army) and loves the fact money and time basically isn’t an issue. She will have to leave at some point and would like to go into an NHS practice, but hates the idea of what you’ve described above.

Private sounds a lot better working wise, relative to her army role - could this be an option? Though I’m guessing that it’s already been considered.

Moo

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Is an idiot
  • Posts: 1444
  • Karma: +84/-6
All roads lead to rope access Scouse  :P

Lopez

Offline
  • ***
  • stalker
  • Posts: 257
  • Karma: +28/-0

Does anyone work in other roles maybe within the nhs where you think the skills of a gp would be an asset?(she likes the idea of speech and language stuff/audiology/other specialism- shes not averse to the idea of training)


My sister is a speech therapist in the NHS. She started with an unrelated language degree and after a few years the NHS put her through university to qualify fully for the role, and she loves it.

If you like i can put her in touch with your wife so they can have a chat

andy popp

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 5525
  • Karma: +347/-5
Not specific to your situation Scouse, but both my brother and his wife voluntarily completely changed their careers in their mid-50s - both were also in careers somewhat akin to medicine in that they are often seen as vocations. It can be done.

RobK

Offline
  • ***
  • stalker
  • Posts: 291
  • Karma: +14/-0
Scouse, sent you a pm.

Nibile

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 7991
  • Karma: +743/-4
  • Part Animal Part Machine
    • TOTOLORE
From my personal experience, she and you could try to isolate the pros and cons of her current job, and assess things before embarking in a decision whatsoever.
I am positive though that she should keep her skills and knowledge useful for the community.
I hate it when I read about people saying "I was a skilled surgeon but I burnt out and now I live in Cancun and sell ice creams and I'm much happier." That's a sort of personal win with a big community loss in my opinion.
Pretty sure that your wife doesn't fall in this goup.

I hope this helps and I wish you two all the best.

Falling Down

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 4880
  • Karma: +333/-4
    • bensblogredux
Hi D,

Sad story and I suspect she’s not alone. My consultancy firm does a bunch of work in the Healthcare and Medical areas. The likes of Smith + Nephew and their competitors employ GPs in several capacities. I’m sure there are specialist recruitment consultancies who deal with GPS and other professionals transitioning into private sector work.

I’ll speak to my colleague and see what he has to say.

B

SamD

Offline
  • *
  • regular
  • Posts: 67
  • Karma: +5/-0
Hi. As someone who works closely with both the audiologists and the speech and language therapists, I suspect that she may find it hard to adapt to moving to the role of an allied healthcare professional outside of medicine. Doctors get used to having quite a high amount of autonomy over what they do with their patients, and adapting to another way of working within healthcare may be a struggle.

If she doesn't mind the idea of retraining and staying in medicine outside of primary care however, there are a number of lesser known medical specialities that she could consider entering into, audiovestibular medicine being one of these, having a short(ish) training track and without a specific need to go back to doing a hospital job with antisocial hours as part of training. There are also training pathways in public health/clinical trials/occupational medicine that might allow her to escape the day to day of primary care, and with potential to move into the private sector. The only issue is the possibility of having to relocate to fulfil any additional training needs - the posts are not always evenly distributed geographically.

Hope this helps!

Scouse D

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 1367
  • Karma: +73/-2
Sam, FD and Nibile, thank you so much for your input it is all brilliant and very gratefully received.

Sam, do you know of any such specialisms that are based in Sheffield/ne Derbyshire?

FD that would be great if you could ask- thanks so much

GCW

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • No longer a
  • Posts: 8172
  • Karma: +364/-38
I guess I had to pop up at some point.

Firstly, there is plenty of support out there that she may wish to engage with to get an independent person's view.

Having a degree in medicine and clinical experience opens a lot of doors.  there are a few things to consider, however.
As a GP, she will be on the Performers List.  Some other roles may still require a GMC license to practice +/- Performers List.  There are requirements around Revalidation and The National Health Service (Performers Lists) (England) Regulations 2013 (as amended).  This may mean she need to do an amount of clinical work to maintain registration, and she will need to consider this when deciding where to go.  It's easier to maintain your registration than give it up and go back through the application process or Induction and returner Scheme.

Other roles could be open to someone with a medical qualification, but mostly in the private sector/ pharma etc

The other alternative is to go and do something completely different that she'd enjoy.  Obviously there are financial considerations, but quality of life is more important than money in many respects.

It's pretty crap out there at the minute, so everyone needs to be aware of their own health and wellbeing.  It's often like a treadmill and you can't see the situation you are in until you tep odd teh moving belt.

[Edit]  May be worth looking at getting a good LinkedIn profile going too as you often get headhunters contacting you.

Aussiegav

Offline
  • ****
  • forum abuser
  • Posts: 677
  • Karma: +29/-10
    • Climberbiker.
I’m surprised no one has suggested pharmaceutical work. There’s lots of options in the industry where her background will be an asset.  Best of luck

GCW

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • No longer a
  • Posts: 8172
  • Karma: +364/-38
Other roles could be open to someone with a medical qualification, but mostly in the private sector/ pharma etc

I did but my spelling was so shocking you probably missed it  :-[

Aussiegav

Offline
  • ****
  • forum abuser
  • Posts: 677
  • Karma: +29/-10
    • Climberbiker.
Quote from: GCW

I did but my spelling was so shocking you probably missed it  :-[
[/quote
So is my attention to detail. More so the reason I missed it.

Oldmanmatt

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • At this rate, I probably won’t last the week.
  • Posts: 7097
  • Karma: +368/-17
  • Largely broken. Obsolete spares and scrap only.
    • The Boulder Bunker climbing centre
Father-in-law did that around 35 years ago.
He joined the Navy as a Surgeon officer to escape NHS GP practice, which he found far more varied and much lower pressure.
His wife, much the same.
There are a huge variety of medical roles within the services and MOD, both in practice and teaching/training. Civilian and service roles.
F-I-L volunteered for several disaster relief efforts over the years, which he seemed to “enjoy” if that’s the right term.
When he decided to semi-retire at 60, he was working for the “radio medical advice” service. When ships/personnel at sea get into medical difficulties, the ships medical officer (just one of the officers, usually the Chief Mate) is linked up with a shore side doctor. I sat with him while he was talking through a Paramedic dropped from one of her Majesty’s war canoes on to a cargo ship after a collision, trying to manage multiple casualties.

 

SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal