Career Boredom

Career boredom

There is absolutely nothing that I hate more than moving and when I settled here in Pittsburgh I decided that I would stay put for a while. After three months those memories and hatred toward moving are starting to fade and I’m once again growing restless. I’m not entirely convinced that my restlessness is really a desire to move back to Maine or to some other place in the country. I think that my restlessness is merely the manifestation of my boredom with my career. In Maine I worked as a street medic and shift supervisor now that I’m here in South West Pennsylvania and there is no longer a possibility of a supervisory position due to circumstances beyond my control I’m once again growing restless.

Upon completing my paramedic education I figured I was good for about five years as a street medic, well, my five years are soon to be up. Back in Maine I was a shift supervisor and that worked well for me, when I came here I enjoyed the decreased level of responsibility but I knew it wouldn’t last and now I need something more. Don’t get me wrong, I love where I work now and I work with a great group of EMS providers but I need something more than being “just a street medic.”

The years preceding my move the major stumbling block to getting out of my own way to get on the road and go was giving up all that I had established in Maine. In Maine I had a solid established career- established rapport with hospital staff and the comfort of knowing that I knew the Maine EMS system and its protocols inside and out. Moving here and working in another state took me outside of my comfort zone and during my acclimation I enjoyed not having a supervisory role. Over the past few months I’ve grown comfortable with my job here and I’m finding now that I need to be in a position of greater responsibility in order to find happiness/challenge.