Living the "Dream"?
The Peek Perspective on Determining Your "Dream Job"
We spend our early lives planning and working towards “the dream.” Our dream job, our dream home, our dream life. But what happens when that dream evolves over time?
Add this to the list of things I never saw coming…
Me, at this point in my pharmacy career, NOT working full-time in a hospital as a pediatric clinical specialist.
See, that was the dream…
2 years of fast-tracked undergrad followed by 4 years of pharmacy school, on scholarship at our state’s premier university. Laser focused on a career in pediatric pharmacy. Selected as many clinical rotations as possible at our local Children’s Hospital. Volunteered there in my free time, too.
PGY-1 residency at my dream institution in North Carolina.
PGY-2 Pediatric residency (inaugural year) at that same institution and served as chief pharmacy resident.
Recruited back to my home state for my dream job…to build a pediatric clinical pharmacy program for the Children’s Hospital, alongside the faculty who had taught me so much there years before.
Became one of the 1st board certified pediatric pharmacists in my state. Niched my way into a pediatric oncology and bone marrow transplant specialty. I was the only pediatric BMT pharmacist in my state, and one of only a few in this region.
I loved the team, the pediatric patients and their parents, the intensity of the work. After all, it was exactly what I had trained for, dreamt of, and envisioned.
Most of all, I loved the relationships, having a front row seat to see God working through very difficult circumstances in my patients’ lives, and getting to empower them through patient education. I loved dispensing hope and grace alongside my medical expertise.
But, then…having 3 babies in 4 years shifted my priorities. To this point, I had built my life around my work and career goals. Suddenly, I had this unfamiliar, new desire to build my work around the rest of my life.
The hospital pharmacy team that had started as just me had now grown to include multiple pediatric pharmacists expanding into many clinical areas. I advocated for the addition of a management position within that clinical pharmacy group to continue expanding our collective services. That position was approved, and the job description and application were posted. I didn’t even apply.
Instead, I left that dream job... While I still get to occasionally participate in some of the great work happening in that place, I branched out. I started an LLC, picked up some contract work here and there with various medical groups. Opened myself to opportunity. Created space to redefine my priorities and discover who I am, outside of my career identity.
Now? I spend a lot more time writing, volunteering at my kid’s school and our church, getting to know my neighbors, investing in friendships. I get to work from home entirely, while having the capacity to build my work around this one wild and precious life. I don’t have to ask anyone for a day off when my kids are home from school due to illness or when I want to plan a family vacation. I can shift my workload with the seasons.
My love for writing and patient education empowerment have also teamed up in the best, most unexpected way: I’m currently using my clinical experience to write pediatric and maternal medical content for a group that has global impact. I’m working on some exciting projects that will literally be in the hands of 85% of Americans in the upcoming year.
I love it. And I never saw it coming.
You see, it turns out, that my “dream job” is the one that currently aligns with my life priorities. And this is it, right now. It may change over time, just as it has evolved to this point. But for now… I’m living “the dream.”
If you also landed your “dream job,” did it remain the dream? Or did it evolve over time?
What if we gave ourselves permission to change and evolve with our dreams? What if we even welcomed a new dream? Celebrated it, even?
After all…What actually makes a “dream job,” a dream job, anyway?
Dreaming with you,
Dr. Peek