Ugh, in addition to the missing posts from Friday and Tuesday, this was supposed to go up on both sites at the same time and for some reason didn’t go up on this one. So, written yesterday…:
A few months ago, Clancy gave 1-year (or so) notice at work (I may write more on this at some point). We will be leaving next summer. We don’t know what comes next. We will also be dealing with a little one at around this time. Uncertainty abounds.
Today another wrench was thrown into everything. As a good faith gesture, we’d let our landlords know that we would be leaving next summer. Today they informed us that they want us out in April, three or four months before we plan to leave Callie.
So now we have to figure out what to do. Most likely, we put our stuff in storage and live thin for that period. Well, as thin as you can with a little one. I can’t imagine that we will want to actually pack/unpack twice. Fortunately, there is a storage place two blocks away. But it’s a suboptimal arrangement in so many ways. Among other things, the rental market around here is terrible.
The other option is that Clancy leaves sooner than announced. She will be going on maternity leave when the peanut is born and that will last twelve weeks. Coming back for a couple months after and then leaving again isn’t optimal (if her employer goes for it), and I’d be lying if I said that there wasn’t a part of us that wanted her out of that job as soon as possible, but nine months of unemployment is a lot to shoulder.
We have some money saved up, but per Paragraph #1 we are looking at some real financial uncertainty in the days that lay ahead. Unpaid maternity leave followed by a couple months in between jobs and what may be a rigid employment schedule if everything goes right.
Basically, she is looking at going through another fellowship, which eliminates the possibility of just finding a new job and moving there. The fellowship may or may not happen, but we can’t plan over it. So taking this opportunity to just leave means a financial strain or a foregone opportunity.
The other vague possibility is a return to the southwest and the Indian reservation she worked on before. She loved it there and they loved her. We’d considered moving down there for the indefinite future, but they’re changing the job description away from what she wants to do (which is, in essence, exactly what happened in Arapaho). It could serve as a holdover, with our stuff in storage back in Callie.
I haven’t seen Clancy in about four days due to her call schedule and a constant influx of patients, though she is due home tonight. So it’ll be great that our first conversation is going to be “What the crap are we going to do?!” And, of course, the more we talk about it, the less we’re spending on more pleasant topics and the less time she has to work on the notes and charts that have been accumulating during her work rally.
Also, the in-laws arrive late tomorrow.
Sorry to read that you are facing so much uncertainty. Was the 1-year notice a contract requirement? It just seems draconian. The worst notice requirement that I’ve seen in a contract is 6 months, but this was for a job in a more populated area than Callie.
Are there any urgent care centers in the area where she could pull some hours when she’s finished with her current job? It’s probably not what she wants to do for the rest of her life, but at least it would provide a temporary income stream. Another thought is moonlighting. In the dark ages, rural ER’s and nursing homes would pay residents and fellows to take night call. Over the past few years, most places have restricted those offers to people who have finished residency training, which actually means less competition for Clancy. My last thought is to contact one of the physician job firms. Some of them specialize in temp assignments, and she might be able to get work through them. The downsides would be that options will be limited to where she has licencure, and she might have to travel.
Comment by Ω — August 22, 2012 @ 12:06 pm
Aren’t there some perks to working on a reservation, such as student loan forgiveness?
Comment by Peter — August 22, 2012 @ 2:13 pm
No, the contract requirement is 90 days. We gave a year’s notice simply so that they would have time to find a replacement and we wouldn’t be deserters of a sinking ship. If they don’t find a replacement, there is a good chance that they will have to cease all obstetrical support at the hospital.
There aren’t many options in Callie. There are some locums jobs here and there that she could take. It may he something we consider if we have to financially plug in some holes.
Comment by trumwill — August 22, 2012 @ 2:15 pm
Aren’t there some perks to working on a reservation, such as student loan forgiveness?
Requires a two year commitment and pays so little that you still end up pretty far behind. We’ve actually considered it, but financial concerns were a strike against it.
Comment by trumwill — August 22, 2012 @ 2:21 pm
Dang it, I just got my oldest brainwashed into wanting to be a doctor. It was the highest-paying, most secure job I could think of.
I’m curious about why the job turned out so undesirable, so whenever you’re ready.
I could stress how much less time and energy you have once you have a baby, even during your time off, but I don’t want to spike your cortisol level any more than it already is.
Comment by stone — August 22, 2012 @ 9:32 pm
stone,
Medicine won’t be worth the effort after the full implementation of health care reform. The training takes too long, costs too much and is too miserable (e.g. sleep deprivation, lack of social life) for what the government wants to pay physicians. Unless you think he has the intelligence and drive necessary to graduate in the top 5% of his medical school class and be competitive for dermatology or plastic surgery (both with the potential for elective cash business), he should only look at medicine if he has a strong and sincere interest. Otherwise, it could make him miserable. I suggest cultivating his visual-spatial skills and encouraging him to take a look at dentistry instead.
Comment by Ω — August 23, 2012 @ 3:51 pm
Sheila,
Most of Clancy’s problems relate to the fact that she’s in primary care. Once that changes, we expect things to get better. That being said, job satisfaction and happiness rates among doctors is very low.
I am not as skeptical of the field’s future as Omega is, though I do think he might be right about dentistry.
Once the baby is around, she’ll be working a different schedule that will hopefully help. A “part time” schedule of 45 hours instead of the full-time of 70.
Comment by trumwill — August 23, 2012 @ 10:17 pm