I’m one of the boomers that have moved on to a new career in my late 50’s. If anyone would have told me that at my tender age of 58 I would be changing companies and starting over, I would have professed them as being quite crazy.
I had worked for the same Cardiology practice for nearly 39 years. I had seen it grow from a 5 M.D. practice with 9 employees, to a 25 M.D. practice with over 250 employees. I had moved through their system as first a Medical Assistant, to a Certified Medical Assistant, to Certified Cardiographic Technician, to the MA Supervisor, to the Administrative Coordinator, to the Patient Relations Liaison, to finally the clinical liaison for the development of the electronic health record. So, even though I had been with the same company, I had been willing to move through the ranks and re-invent myself on a number of different occasions.
The latter position, held for 7 years, involved assessing the clinical work flow for all areas of patient care within the company, implementing an electronic flow, building the system, and then training over 200 employees. Again, if anyone would have told me that after 32 years of direct patient care I would evolve into the computer world of patient care, I again would have called it crazy. I guess having someone with the personal touch of patient care was quite an asset to the electronic world. At least I hope it was!
As is going on with most in the corporate world, and especially in the field of medicine, a lot of the privately owned physician practices are being bought by larger hospital based firms. Our Cardiology practice was no different. After being in business in our area for over 60 years, our practice was purchased by a large hospital organization in the area. With this acquisition came many changes, most of which were not good for the present employees. Even though the company was willing to “grandfather” in our seniority, that also caused many of our long term employees to have a bull’s eye target right on their foreheads. These employees, it became blatantly obvious, were going to be downsized and removed from the practice through attrition. I obviously was one such employee. I went from being an employee that was well engaged with the practice, to merely a name and a number on a piece of paper to the new organization.
Even though the new company was implementing an electronic health record, it became quite apparent they had no intention of using me on their team to help with their project. So, what do you think would have happened to me once they turned off our old system, and turned on the new system … hello unemployment, hello no health insurance! I found myself knocking on the door of being one of the statistics of someone who had played the game and followed the rules my entire life … worked, worked hard, good attendance, growth in a company, health insurance provided … to someone unemployed, no health insurance, and “too old” and “too expensive” for a new company to want to employ. I could have waited the situation out, been downsized, drawn unemployment for a while, and enjoyed some free time. My first free time in 30+ years. But that's just not how I operate, or how I was raised by my parents.
Instead, I am blessed! Another large health care system in our city was also implementing an electronic health record, and they had chosen the same product that I had been working with for over 7 years. I took the initiative and sent in my resume. I received a call the very next morning, and I was asked to come for an interview the following afternoon. Imagine that! An interview, my first interview in 39 years. “What in the world are you doing?” is the question I kept asking myself on the way to the interview. “What in the world are you doing?” The door to the office opened and there sat the interviewer. I thought I might faint. I thought I might get sick. I thought I might not remember my name. None of that happened. After our initial exchange of hello, we simply chatted. When next I realized we were walking to our cars, TWO hours had gone by. I got in my car, heaved a sigh, started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. It felt right, it just simply felt right. I was called a few days later and asked to come speak to the Vice President of Physician Integration. Another panic set in, and again I asked myself, “What in the world are you doing?” This time, fate turned out even better. The Vice President of Physician Integration turned out to be a lady I had worked with over 30 years ago. I had actually trained her at that point! She smiled and said, “I knew it was you, but I bet you didn’t know it was me.” The ice was broken and another great conversation ensued.
It has now been almost 3 months since I started my new job as their Sr. EHR Clinical Liaison. Yes, I gave up precious vacation time that I had accrued over the many years. Yes, I gave up my four day work week. But, I don’t care! I have been well compensated, and I am ethically and professionally exactly where I need to be. I feel guilty … I love my new job so much. I feel young, rejuvenated, with a new lease on life. Who says you can’t feel young again at 58? I drive to work every morning, thanking my God for such blessings. I’ve always said that God puts me exactly where I’m supposed to be. He does. He really does.
This was written as a prompt from The Red Dress Club. We were to write about a time that we made a change in our lives. I'm so proud of myself!
