Considering Post-Residency Career Pathways

This blog is adapted from a Forum column published in May 2022. For the full original article, click here. 

After twenty-four years of schooling and training, it feels like graduating residency and moving immediately into your career is pretty much a given. Many trainees completing residency this month likely already have a position procured. A good portion will start in positions that may turn out to be their “dream jobs.” Some of you may not experience that same result. Still more may not have a job lined up yet. This blog is for those of you who did not or will not start your careers in your exact ideal position.

I did not start my post-residency career in my dream job. In fact, I did not even start practicing podiatry for seven months after graduation. For personal reasons, I was unable to apply for my license as my residency neared completion. I remember the feeling of sitting at my residency graduation dinner, excited for my coresidents, worried about my prospects, and how long I would have to wait to start this next phase of my professional life. In the interim, a practice affiliated with my residency employed me in their offices. I did clerical work, but still got to be around podiatry and keep up with the nonclinical knowledge that becomes an integral part of our career. I also worked as a bartender at a bowling alley in the evenings, getting to practice interpersonal skills. Although it was difficult to have graduated and not be practicing, this was the path I faced, and I continued to work toward entering practice.

After those seven months passed and my circumstances changed, I was finally able to get my license. Within a few weeks, I moved to an unfamiliar city, and began practicing, putting in hours in the office, the operating room, and nursing homes. I learned a lot in that position, but it turns out it was just one step in my professional journey.

When a Professional Pathway is Not a Straight Line

Sometimes, as we head along a path, we are not sure where it may lead. I fully expected to stay at and be a part of that first company for the rest of my career. I was able to make a difference for my patients, but I continued to carry a dream of a different type of practice and career: until a new opportunity came my way several years later.

I am now employed at what I consider my dream job! I work as one of two podiatrists in a large orthopedic company, seeing a bit of everything, and feeling very much like a part of something great. It felt like a long time coming, but the benefits of employment by a supportive company where I can do my best for my patients each and every day was well worth the wait. My former position also proved to be a great experience, as I better understand the administrative aspect of a practice. I am still amazed, over five years later, at how different two jobs in the same profession can be. I hope you are all set to start your dream job straight out of residency. However, if you do not land that job immediately, set your goals, keep that dream, and keep working your way down the path! 

Dr. Hook is a Trustee of the New York State Podiatric Medical Association, Chair of the NYSPMA Public Education and Information Committee, and a sub-Chair of the American Board of Podiatric Medicine Membership Committee. She is Second Vice President of the American Association for Women Podiatrists and is in private practice at Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists in Syracuse, N.Y.

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