The Mid-Career Crisis Moving on to Your Next Job or Staying Comfortable

Making a professional transition is challenging at any time in a physician's career and especially during the surgeon's mid-career. This is the most important phase of one's professional life, and it is not just about being in the early phase (10-15 years) or the late phase of your mid-career in practice (15- 25 years) but is about the development of experi-ence, repetition, and judgment through extensive practice. This is when you get ready to put into prac-tice what you have learned, decide how you want to shape your own future, and most importantly how you can help others to shape theirs. This step will help you choose your next goal and determine how you will move into the senior phase of your career and what the senior phase means for you. The more you know about what you really want to do in your next steps and about what makes you happy, the more able you will be to make the mid-career crisis not a crisis but a journey to a field of dreams with greater opportunities.

Automated summary

Making a professional transition during a surgeon's mid-career is challenging. It is a crucial phase where experience, repetition, and judgment are developed through extensive practice. This phase involves deciding one's future, helping others shape theirs, and moving into the senior phase of a career.