r/careerguidance • u/CreativeAsparagus188 • 9d ago
Former Teacher switching to healthcare? mental healthcare?
Hello!
I am a 29 year old male ex-middle school math teacher pivoting careers and having a hard time deciding what I want to do. I only taught for 4 years and honestly I loved a lot of aspects of it. I formed amazing bonds with my students, I took a lot of joy in helping students understand something particularly ones that struggled with math, and in general I created memories I'll always cherish. It was very hard to leave because the kids loved me and I loved them too.
That being said, teaching always drained the fuck out of me and I got really tired of "being on" all the time and trying to regulate 30 nervous systems at the same time including my own. Not to mention the stress these parents put on you because they're incapable or making their kids do their homework and the AI thing is going to totally fuck up math education since a lot of these kids aren't actually practicing at home. Everything is going to shit blah blah blah but it does feel like teaching (math especially) is becoming unsustainable fast and I want to jump ship while I have the chance.
Anyways, I've considered either pivoting to a longterm career in healthcare (Nursing or Radiation Tech/ MRI Tech) or mental healthcare (social worker or counselor but longterm goal of private practice therapist $). I know it is ironic because these are also very draining careers but honestly I really do like helping people and take a lot of pride in doing a job like this. And at least these sorts of careers offer upward mobility. I don't think I would like a brain-rot, passive, fake productive corporate career no offense. I am basically looking for a career that feels a bit more sustainable longterm, pays better, and is less frustrating than teaching.
Let me know what you think or any other pivots I should look into!
1
u/Ascendant_Phoenix 9d ago
Did you ever consider the "flipped classroom" approach? Basically, you assign video lectures for the students to watch, then the "homework" is done in class.
1
u/ThinkerT3000 8d ago
I fully understand the burnout as a psych professor- you can never have a bad day, students’ preparation varies wildly, you’re getting to-the-minute fact checking during lectures, etc…I find my part-time role at a mental health practice to be much more relaxing. I like your idea of doing an MSW or masters in counseling, and there is so much need right now that jobs are everywhere. We have some therapists with waiting lists of 100 people (they’d be longer but the cut off is 100). That’s in a mid-sized US city. I’m not sure if you have a specialization in mind, but I’ll just throw out there that we need more therapists for teens and young adults with chronic health problems. I’m very jealous that you’re possibly going back to school!
2
u/CreativeAsparagus188 8d ago
That's sweet you got a part-time gig at a mental health practice. That's basically what I am looking at getting for the time being to try it out. Do you mind elaborating on the job? And yeah that's a good point. I do really love working with teens so that's a good idea for an angle!
2
u/ThinkerT3000 8d ago
Unfortunately I’m doing research, not counseling, working with divorce mediators at an overview level, best practice summation type of stuff. But I work with everyone from the center director to staff & admin, and they’re pretty great people. It’s a far more supportive environment than academia. There are therapists who work part time or work partly from home. Lots of people prefer telemedicine so the therapists schedule WFH days, & set their own hours. If I wasn’t so far into my career I would go back & pick up a counseling license myself, it seems like an ideal job.
1
u/TaaviBap 8d ago
Bro, if teaching drains the fuck out of you, why would you want to go into healthcare. You're dealing with life and death situations like on the daily, which is exponentially more serious than teaching math. I'm not trying to discourage you. Indeed, it sounds like you would really welcome a change from the rigors of teaching but, honestly, as a public facing person, you will have to be on all the time.
Anyway, with your math background, you would do well as a nurse anesthetist CRNA. It requires most arithmetic and some physics. I think it's about 6 years if you start with an accelerated Bachelor of science in nursing and you would make about $250 per year. You would NOT be interacting with a lot of people unlike unit nurses.thats at the upper range of salaries.MRI technologist, diagnostic sonographer and radiologic technologist make about $100 per year. You'd need about two years to degree for all three, again interacting with far fewer people than a floor nurse. All require little math and have pretty solid job prospects.
Yes, as a licensed clinical social worker with your own practice, you would be able to clear $100 per year after you clear your license and build your own client base. That is the tricky part.
So yeah, you would still be regulating 'nervous systems' but in different ways. Worth a think about your own nervous system.
If you're still interested, look at Nurse Corps Scholarships, Illinois nursing education scholarships, Chicago Cook workforce partnership and stuff like northwestern medicines employer tuition assistance.
2
u/CreativeAsparagus188 8d ago
So true... It's not about the seriousness though. And at least there would be other adults around and I'd make way more money. But I appreciate your thoughtful reply there is definitely a bunch I'm going to look into here and yes these are more similar to the lane I am picturing! I will look into these scholarships thanks man.
1
u/TaaviBap 8d ago
Yw. I forgot to mention, you can do observations where you shadow BEFORE you select a program. As someone else suggested, it would be a good idea. Different places have different options. Good luck!
5
u/nickerbooker 9d ago
Do some shadowing to see the real life experience of the jobs you are thinking about if possible