Are Healthcare Jobs Ideal for Working Parents?

February 28th, 2012 2 Min read Are Healthcare Jobs Ideal for Working Parents? Blog
If you are a working parent (and what parent isn't, really?) what aspects of your job help or hinder your work/life balance? With my own job, flexibility in schedules and mobile communications are vital. A smartphone, laptop with access to office servers, and a convenient location to school and home make my job as a Dad that much easier. But I'm just a marketing dude. What about healthcare professionals, who absolutely must have patient interface in a controlled environment? That one guy's ruptured spleen isn't going to wait around because of your daycare crisis, or a trip to school for the science fair. Scheduling around those things is possible, but much more so for some clinicians than others. CNN Money recently ranked the top 20 "Best jobs for working parents" in the US. Among them were Speech-Language Pathologist (#1!), Physician Assistant (#9), and Physical Therapist (#12). Dawn White, who places Physician Assistants in locum tenens jobs for CompHealth, said several aspects of the profession make it desirable for working parents.

"One of the things PA's love is the option of having a flexible schedule such as 2 weeks on 2 weeks off, which allows them more time at home. I've had several PAs say they chose the profession partly because they can go in and practice medicine, and get to know their patients, without having to feel "on" all the time with organizational and administrative issues."

This is not to say PAs - or any healthcare providers - have breezy, low-stress jobs. In fact, the article shows that "low stress" grades out the worst of the 4 categories considered in the survey. What grades highly, however, are "personal satisfaction" and "benefit to society" measures, with "flexibility" close behind. The nature of work these healthcare providers do adds value to their life, and allows them to balance it with family and personal time. Now, check out what snuck in at #2 on the list: Employment Recruiter. Here at CompHealth, we have hundreds of recruiters, many with children, and we know they value both the satisfying aspects of placing people in jobs, and the flexibility their career allows. With the wonderful providers we place, from doctors to physician assistants to therapists to lab techs, and the host of recruiters we employ, it's no wonder CompHealth retains a fantastic culture and is a great place for working parents (and other grown-ups too). Check out job listings for Physician Assistants, Speech-Language Pathologists, and Physical Therapists here on CompHealth.com.

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