Kentucky Headhunter

September, 2010. That's what blogger tells me is the last time I posted. Hard to believe it's been that long. A lot has happened since then. Soon will be 2 years....

I've been gone from the greater-NYC area for over 6 months. I miss it. And for a long time, I missed professional fulfillment. But I've found it again! The only real career I had ever had, before 2011, was in book publishing. I loved it! I was passionate about it! It was great! I'm still a reader to the point of it being compulsive. But, to pay my bills, I've found something new. I'm now a recruiter for physicians. Psychiatrists, to be specific. I work for an independent firm that contracts with hospitals and clinics all across the US.

The fulfillment comes from the pure and simple joy I get from feeling like I actually can (and do) help people! I have found in myself a particular passion for the underdog--like the late-career doc in Boston who had a license suspension several years ago because of a patient complaint. A patient who also complained about every other medical provider that patient ever encountered. A doc in New York who, more than 2 decades ago, prescribed a narcotic to a lady-friend without an evaluation, and also suffered a license suspension. But I also feel rewarded by those docs without a mark on their histories. The full-faculty member of a top US university who wants to pick up a few clinical hours per week to help him remember why he became a psychiatrist in the first place.

There's a particular reward when I can feel like I helped both a doc and a hospital. When a clinic in rural Vermont or Rhode Island calls and has a critical need for a Child/Adolescent Psychiatrist, and I have a *perfect* doc for them who needs a J1 Visa Waiver, or H1B Support, or Tuition Assistance, I feel on top of the world when I can find the right fit. I harbor no illusions that I actually help the kids and families in those areas, but I do take my share of the credit for playing matchmaker. And I thrive on it.

I haven't been doing it very long, but I'm loving it. I have a reason to be excited about getting up and going to work every morning, something I haven't experienced since, well, let's see, soon after September, 2010.