You may think his career has been rather a typical until you realize that a story like this is closer to the norm than the exception.
It turned out that all the general surgery residents I met were miserable, and I hated nothing more than going to clinic. So, as you may have guessed, I became an anesthesiologist so that I wouldn’t hate my job.
We recognized the spending habits we’d had in our early twenties weren’t going to provide for much financial stability.
That awakening, combined with our limited resident salaries, forced us to reprioritize our lackluster spending habits and live life with a financial plan.
Our busy practice, however, left me feeling a little disappointed. Suddenly, my ability to become a partner changed. Because of my pre-partner track, I did not benefit from “buyout” money that our senior partners received, and my track to partnership became muddled.
I love my career in medicine, but there seems to be an alternative plan to the quite predictable life that I envisioned in my premed and medical school years.
So, how do/did we deal with all of the changes?? We developed some skills that allow us to adapt to life’s shifting norms.