Quitting your first job-- when is it ok? how hard is it to find the second job?

[throwawayaway]

Throwaway for obvious reasons.

I landed a job in a sub specialty and I've decided it's not what I want to do long-term. I want to go back to general surgery.

How soon is it OK to quit your first job?

How hard is it to find a good general surgery job? (I have family on the West Coast and curious about jobs in those locales if anyone knows the general climate.)

Any advice would be appreciated. I plan to keep this job until it's ok to leave, and I will work hard for my patients and my learning ... but this is not the right job for me, the pay is bad, and I don't like the location.

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[throwawayaway]

FWIW- yes, there were some red flags, but it was a surprise and a hard reality to accept that the job wasn’t right ... I’ll obviously try to be more circumspect with whatever job I pursue next ...

 

[cpants]

I would stay for 1-2 years if possible, but if it's really an untenable situation or the pay is that bad, it's OK to leave. Especially if you have a good explanation like you want to practice general instead of subspecialty, I don't think new practices will be that concerned. I would also wait until you have signed the contract with the next gig before you do anything. Take your time to look and make sure this is a better opportunity and location. Leaving your first job is very common, I think like 50% leave within the first few years. However if you start stacking up multiple 1-2 year jobs on your CV, that will start to look like you were the problem, not the job.