A blueprint for career change when you don't know what you want to do

Physician Executive, Nov-Dec, 2004 by Anna Navarro

After an intensive search, she landed a job as the CMO of a small hospital that was part of a large rural health care system. In two or three years, she'll be ready to go after a CMO job in a large urban system.

Antonia has been fully employed the entire time. Clarity and conviction about her goal and a practical action plan sustained her through all the many changes she undertook in her path to becoming a CMO.

Here are some further examples of changes physicians have made as a result of working through these steps:

* From cardiologist to physician executive recruiter

* From gerontologist to medical director for a pharmaceutical company

* From pediatric emergency medicine to medical director of informatics for a large national group that contracts with pediatric hospitals

* From internist to medical director of an insurance company

* From high level administration in a medical school to being an entrepreneur

* From cardiac surgery to intensive care specialist

* From internist to medical director of a sleep clinic

* From family practice to urgent care physician

The solutions are as different as the individuals who pursue them. And while the process is not an easy one, years of experience shows it can help you find a career that works well for you.

Anna Navarro is president of Work Transitions, a career counseling firm located in St. Louis, Mo. She can be reached at 314-367-0008 or Worktransitions@aol.com

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