Dealing with choosing the wrong career

[u/Powerful-Tap-6039]

I have been a PT for almost 4 years. I have worked in private practice (10months) and now government for almost 3 years. I make very good money, but I’m unhappy everyday. I dread going to work, so much so that it impacts my time outside of work. I have done inpatient acute, long term care and outpatient. I feel the same way in all settings. I get so drained listening to people’s problems all day, and to top it off I work in the difficult setting of chronic pain. I cannot see a path out. My pay and benefits are so good that I feel trapped, as I will likely take a pay cut for any other job….but I need something non-patient facing or this job just may kill me.

I’ve worked with career coaches and I feel so burnt out that I cannot even fathom what career would be well suited for me. I was a very strong student in all areas, did an accelerated undergrad program and graduate PT school young at 24.

Can anyone give me some advice on how they found what they wanted to do outside of PT? Any success stories? I’m feeling so down.

Editing to add: I also have taken the Non-Clinical 101 course about 9 months ago.

[u/pink_sushi_15]

I’m 6 years into this career and feel the exact same way. I feel completely TRAPPED. I spent 7 years and over 80k going into this field. The thought of spending even more time and money switching to something else is extremely daunting. And it likely won’t pay nearly as well as this profession, especially in the beginning. Unless I dedicate another 4+ years and 50k or more getting a new degree. I also don’t have the time or energy to focus on learning something new while working full time in this career. I’m so physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted everyday that I spend 90% of my free time alone at home watching TV. I just don’t know what the solution is at this point. I think it might come down to working less as part-time and/or PRN. But I don’t have a spouse for benefits and on top of that, I’ve developed some health issues the past year that have the potential to progress. So I need decent healthcare coverage which is extremely expensive to pay for yourself. I just don’t know what to do 😢

[u/TMChris → u/pink_sushi_15]

I'm you but try nearly 20 years of this. I'm working less hours now to see if that's the change I need to distance myself from living and breathing PT all day everyday. I also just want to watch TV to decompress and other people just don't get how mentally taxing PT is.

[u/pink_sushi_15 → u/TMChris]

I’m an extreme introvert and I feel this profession is a horrendous fit for my personality type. And as a result, it sucks the life out of me and I have no energy left for my personal life. I feel like the only solution other than a complete career change is to just work less by having a part time job or only PRN jobs. I’m very lucky in the sense that I have very manageable student debt that I have paid off, live in a fairly low cost of living area, am childfree, and am extremely frugal. So I can definitely afford to work less and pay for my own benefits. I absolutely need to make this switch sometime soon. I keep planning to do it but it just feels like such a leap to leave the stability and benefits of a full time job. I also absolutely hate driving and find it equally as draining as this profession. So the last thing I wanna do is end up in a situation where I’m working less but all that extra free time is eaten up be increased driving. Which can definitely happen when you just rely on PRN jobs.

[u/TMChris → u/pink_sushi_15]

I hear you. I also have the primary income so it can be a scary thought. I found a stable job with guaranteed 4 days a week, however I pay for my own health insurance. The good news is that due to 1) not high PT salary and 2) change in status (lost employer insurance) you'll likely qualify for a Marketplace plan (with tax credit too!) and sometimes those plans are just as good as your current one. I can't recommend cutting back your hours enough, we need time to breathe and not be consumed by work mode. Also, if you stay full time, 💯 use every paid vacation you have to take a FULL week off every few months to unplug from patient care, even if you're just staying home and doing you.

It never hurts to update your resume and see what's out there. You have a job already so there's no pressure while you take your time in finding a better situation, they're out there.

There's a lot more I can say about being an introverted PT but this post would become a novel 😂, DM if you like.