Looking to leave healthcare completely

[LoadingMe]

Hello everyone,

I know this is probably not the best place to post a question like this but I figured it may be worth it a shot and see if anyone had similar situations during ones own career. I’m 27 years old and have been a paramedic for about three years at this point and in EMS emergency for about 7 years. I am not afraid to admit that I am completely burnt out. I am at the point where I have zero passion for help people. I don’t care to check off my drug bag anymore. I don’t care to check off my ambulance. I don’t care to keep my ambulance clean. I have zero passion for the job and helping people anymore when I am constantly treated like garbage by my admin and people who abuse the healthcare system. Our healthcare system is garbage. I was the student who was always constantly studying. I took a cardiologist EKG course. I always studied my anatomy and physiology before and after graduating medic school. I have the knowledge for the job but the abuse has burnt me out. I don’t think I can go back. I was considering nursing school and I did apply after completing all my cores but with my mindset right now, I don’t believe I should be in healthcare right now.

I am asking this question in hopes someone may have found a way out? I have been looking at other careers outside of healthcare like maybe IT, Data Scientists, Cybersecurity, etc. I am just worried about my age. Has anyone made a complete switch? If so what did you do and how did you go about it? Thank you!

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[bikelady]

First, I am sorry you are feeling this way.

You're young, and there is a LOT you can do to make a lateral move out of healthcare completely! Depending on your finances, either take a leave of absence, go part time, or just quit entirely while you regroup. Take some online courses in IT, look into local community college or online certificate programs. One option, with your healthcare background, would be to find something healthcare-adjacent like doing IT at a hospital or working on support or implementation of their EMR.

27 is a perfectly reasonable age to go get a bachelor's in a completely unrelated field, too, so if you want to study art history or 16th century English poetry or whatever random thing, go for it. Depending on your job situation, you might even be able to scale back on your shifts enough to still work (and thus earn money) while in school.

I was 27 when I started med school after working at a software company and am now 41 and I still feel fairly "young." Few careers have as long of a path to completion as becoming a physician so you have TONS of time to figure out what you want to do, and then do it. Good luck!!

 

[frosted2]

I think Bikelady covered the important topics, I'm just here for moral support. For context, I'm 4 year medic, been in EMS for 10 years, and I'm your age!

First and foremost, I'm sorry you're feeling this way. Please take care of yourself.

Burnout is REAL, it is debilitating, and it can be all-consuming. EMS burnt me to a crisp because of COVID before I started med school. I was done and I also wanted ZERO to do with any patients... I don't know about you, but some people that I have picked up recently are entitled like never before... it was killing me and I was not in a good place.

Please reach out if you ever need to chat. I found it helpful to take some time off, put down the bottle/glass/booze, and do something relaxing such as listen to a meditation app, etc. PET DOGS/CATS/PUPPIES/KITTENS... its such a wonderful stress reliever.

 

[wook]

I agree with the previous posters. First and foremost, make some time for yourself. Second, do something that excites and motivates you.

You absolutely can do other careers. Your training and experience has given you skills in dealing and managing with people, medical knowledge, understanding of system integration and design, and continuous quality improvement. All of these offer differing degrees of applicability to different fields such as business, public safety (other than EMS), healthcare, etc.


Wook