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one of the biggest challenges I faced
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after transitioning from clinical
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practice to the corporate world was a
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loss of a clearly defined professional
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identity As a bit of a backstory I went
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to medical school in Cuba before
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returning to Guyana where I'm from
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originally I worked as a medical doctor
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mostly in emergency and outpatient
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department for about 7 years And then my
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family and I decided to migrate to
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Canada And you know what there were a
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lot of things I didn't quite think
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through before I decided to move
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Actually there were a lot of things I
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simply had no way of knowing Moving to a
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new country meant starting over in so
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many ways Personally emotionally and
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professionally And the transition well
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it was much harder than I expected One
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of the most difficult parts was figuring
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out who I was without the title of
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doctor defining me I needed to shift
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careers especially since medicine isn't
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exactly a job that you could just
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continue in another country It's not
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like you could just apply to a similar
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role and pick up where you left off Plus
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the licensing process is complex time
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consuming and very expensive And when
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you have a family to support waiting
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years to try and re-qualify may not be a
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realistic option for some of us So
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that's how I ended up in the corporate
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world At first it wasn't part of some
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grand plan Actually I just needed to
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move forward I needed to do something
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But even though I was in survival mode
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because I needed to provide for myself
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and my family I have always wanted a
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career that allowed me to grow to
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contribute to inspire Now it's been a
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few years since I've left clinical
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practice and luckily I've been able to
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somewhat move up the so-called corporate
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ladder In my current role I am a manager
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for medical information on phicco
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vigilance and of course a budding
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YouTuber but that's a video for another
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day One of the questions that I get
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asked the most is how did I end up here
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especially for someone who is now
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starting off it might seem somewhat
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desirable or even glamorous but it would
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be a huge disservice if I only talked
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about my victories without letting you
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know about the many struggles And trust
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me there were numerous that I have had
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to navigate Actually I'm still
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navigating many of these struggles
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because the truth is I didn't have a
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clear road map I didn't have a 5-year
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plan neatly laid out But so far do you
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want to guess what one of my biggest
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struggles was it was losing my
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professional identity For some reason I
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didn't expect this to happen or at least
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not to the extent that it did One day
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you're walking around the hospital
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working as a doctor People are lined up
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to see you They trust you with their
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help They look to you for answers And
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then the next day you're in another
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country unlicensed and unemployed The
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thing about medicine is that it's all
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encompassing It doesn't just shape what
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you do It becomes who you are And then
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suddenly you make a decision and it's
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gone So you're left asking yourself who
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am I now am I still a doctor will I
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still find a purpose the late Dr Oliver
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Saxs a renowned neurologist and author
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once said "To be ourselves we must have
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ourselves possess if need be repossess
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our life stories." But how do you
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reclaim a sense of self when the story
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you've told yourself for years suddenly
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seems invalid or irrelevant and that's a
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question I struggle to answer What makes
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this even harder is when you can't even
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seem to land a decent job Guys I wasn't
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even getting volunteer opportunities
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Because let's be real outside of
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medicine do you really have the right
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experience i kept running into the same
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frustrating paradox I was either
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overqualified or lacked the right
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experience I had spent years training
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making life and death decisions handling
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immense pressure Yet in this new world
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none of that seemed to count Because
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let's face it the only job I truly knew
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how to do was the one I could no longer
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practice And if you're like me and you
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started working as a doctor straight out
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of medical school you've probably never
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had to craft the perfect resume sharpen
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your interview skills learn how to
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market yourself So what's the solution i
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truly believe that the key to overcoming
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this loss of identity is reframing how
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we see ourselves Dr Armenia Ibara a
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professor at London Business School
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wrote in her book Working identity we
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learn who we are in practice not
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interior by testing reality not by
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looking inside In other words your
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identity isn't something that is fixed
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It is something you create through
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action What if being a doctor was never
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just about the title but about the
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skills and mindset you bring to the
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world what if your ability to diagnose
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to solve problems and lead under
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pressure was still just as valuable just
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in a different context what if instead
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of losing yourself you were actually
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evolving into something more because
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here's the truth You're more than your
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job title Yes it's hard Yes it's
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uncomfortable But what if this
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transition is not the end of your
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professional identity what if it's the
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beginning of a new chapter one where you
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define success on your own terms It took
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me years to fully understand that my
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value wasn't tied to a single profession
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That the skills knowledge and expertise
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that I have built over the years weren't
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lost They just needed to be redirected
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So if you're in the place of uncertainty
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know this You're not alone You're not
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the only person that has ever felt this
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way And you are never starting from
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scratch But the most important question
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you can ask yourself right now is this
