So I need a little advice..........
I have to find a job and my problem is that I'm not sure what to do. My goal after completing this PhD was to find this magical clinical research position that allows me time to be a physical therapist and treat clients AND have time to participate in research. These jobs are few and far between and when you add the pediatric factor they are almost non-existent. I have spent the past month poking around at jobs, trying to find something, but the jobs are generally clinical, administrative or faculty. If we had the financial luxury I would continue to hunt, or at the very least wait until February (when our national convention occurs) to find a really good fit, but without the influx of student loan money that would usually come in August to get us settled, things are tight, really tight. Thus I need to find something soon.
I would love to be back in the clinic, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to do any research. Most clinics are not designed to allow their practitioners time to research. That being said if I did return to the clinic full-time in 2 years I would be able to sit for my specialist certification exam. This would make me more marketable in some respects.
A faculty position would give me the access to research and possibly (depending on the position and location) access to practice in a clinic up to 1-day a week. The issue with a faculty position is that my vita is a bit lacking in the publication department. The other issue is that I must determine what else I am qualified to teach outside of pediatrics.... *sigh* I love pediatrics so much and it's not that I'm not competent to teach other things, but pediatrics is my love and it is the ONLY thing I have done since graduating from PT school in 2003, other than a 3 month stint at a nursing home (ugh!) I could potentially teach research courses, lifespan, parts of adult neuro and basic skills courses, but usually these are well covered in most programs. Also I enjoy teaching, and I like to think I'm good at it, but it doesn't give me that feeling that I get when I have either presented my research or helped a child learn to walk..........
The other option is a post-doc, which are also few and far between for pediatrics and PT in general. This pays a lot less than both the clinic and faculty, but may give me a leg-up. The issue is that there is 1 possible post-doc that I could qualify for that has been advertised and the rest I basically just have to send out some emails and see if anyone has any money laying around or coming in shortly.
It's just frustrating. I don't want to start a local PT job here in a clinic doing pediatric work knowing that I am looking for work elsewhere, it's not fair to anyone. And since I probably haven't made it clear we WANT to move out-of-state. Nothing against our current state, but we are ready to move on. This was always to be a temporary move, and our next move may be temporary as well, but we'll worry about that later! :)
So any and all advice is welcome.......
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