Hyeon, job-share position

Hyeon
Specialty: Pediatrics

What are your current and past work experiences in the field of medicine?
After completing my residency at Duke Medical Center, I worked full-time in Rochester, Minn., for almost four years before taking a three-month maternity leave when my first child was born. After coming back from maternity leave, I worked 3 days a week until we moved to Virginia Beach. When we relocated to Virginia Beach, I took one year off from practicing medicine and had my second child. I am now working part-time in a job-share position at a pediatric clinic. I work two days a week and alternate the third day with the physician who is my job-share partner.

What role has your ability to negotiate played in the career choices you have made?
For my current position, the position was advertised as a part-time, job-sharing position. So for this position there was not a lot to negotiate. There are a few other physicians in the medical group that also job share, so the model was already in place, although in my practice, it is just the two of us job-sharing.  When I worked part-time in Minnesota, the position started out as part-time and then turned into a job-sharing position when another physician was looking to work part-time as well.
Currently my position is based on 50%FTE so my benefits are all based on that percentage. I have had to negotiate for things like vacation time and getting funds for continuing medical education courses.

Your current job was advertised as a job-sharing position. Do you have any advice for physicians who are looking for a part-time or job-share position?
I have found that doors might close if you go to an interview and ask for a part-time position when the position advertised is for a full-time physician. In a situation like that, if it is a practice that seems appealing to you and you are flexible about when to work part-time, it may be better to get the job and start out full time. Once you are hired and establish yourself as a valuable member of the practice, you are at a better position to negotiate down your hours to a part-time position. Especially if the practice realizes your importance in the group, they will be more willing to accommodate your desires to decrease your hours rather than lose you.

You mentioned that your husband is also a physician. How did both of you prioritize what was important to negotiate for your positions?
I knew that when we had children I wanted to be at home more and spend more time with them. We also knew from experience that having the two of us with full-time call schedules was not going to work. So, we knew that I needed to have a position where I was on call less then he was on call. My husband was supportive of me creating a work position that I was happy in and also allowed me to be the kind of parent I wanted to be. We are also fortunate that I could cut back my hours without worrying about financial issues of the decreased income. When we relocated to Virginia Beach, I didn’t work for a year because the right job was not available. I did have the luxury to wait and I knew that with 2 young children, I did not want to work full time and have a busy call schedule even from the start. So if you are able to wait for the opportunity, and working part-time is your only option, you may be at the mercy of what is available in your area. However, you may be able to network with other physicians locally who are working full time but may be interested in working part-time and set up a job-share position.

What did you do in terms of “keeping up” in the field of medicine while you were not practicing for a year?
During that time I tried to keep up with continuing education classes and attending conferences when I could. This was helpful in keeping my mind still in medicine. When I went back to practice and direct patient care, it did take a few weeks to adjust to the routine. It initially took me a bit longer to do some things that were so easy before because some medications and recommendations had changed. However, I didn’t feel that a year was too long to be away and out of practice.

What was the most difficult thing about that year off?
I really missed the intellectual part of my work. As a physician you spend such a big portion of your life studying and training to arrive at this point that it was difficult for me to completely give that up. At the same time, I knew that I didn’t want to miss out on being a parent especially when my children were young. Working part-time is a perfect balance and enables me to be a better physician and parent because I value the time at work and at home more than I would if I had to pick one or the other. I feel it is a blessing to be able to be both a parent and a physician and be able to have a position that works with my choices for how I want to be a parent and how I want to practice medicine.

Do you have any advice or resources that you used that you feel would be helpful for a physician looking to work part-time?
I think in some ways selling a job-share position to a group is easier than a part-time position. With a part-time position there are issues of who is going to pick up the “loose ends” such as following up on lab or test results, phone calls or questions, and paperwork to be handled in your absence. However, when you job share, you and your partner follow up on the “loose ends” for each other so it does not become an additional burden on the other members of your practice.

What is the most stressful part about working part-time?
It can be stressful when something critical happens to one of my patients and I am not there for them. I have to trust that my partner will take care of the situation as I would have done. Sometimes I still worry about the “loose ends” and call in to check on things on my days off.  I also wonder sometimes if my patients would prefer to have a full-time physician rather than one who works part-time for the sake of continuity and accessibility. Also, you may feel that you need to prove yourself to others in your group that work full time that you are as committed as they are to providing the best patient care. I let them know that when I am at work, I am giving 100%.