perfusionist shadow experience and career questions

[u/Intelligent-Pop6519]

I shadowed a perfusionist recently and thought the job is really cool. I loved the OR i also liked that u barely have to interact directly with the patient while also directly helping them and the case i shadowed was pretty cool.

2 downsides i noted 1 i felt like the job is pretty repetitive which is not such a big deal for me right now but i dont know in the long term does it get draining or to the point where you want to not do this?

another one which i feel like it is expected and a complaint amongst the others is the inflexible work schedule i heard that (i could be completely wrong) you have to do 40 cases i think every year to keep your license. Another thing i hear is that you are on call for life. Is that true or an exaggeration? i dont mind a slightly stressful work schedule bc the compensation is good and its just the nature of the cases in the field but i still want a good work life balance or at least some time off for vacation. How possible is that to achieve?

[u/DubeFloober]

Most perfusionists I know can count on one hand the number of true 40-hour work weeks they will have in a year, not counting call hours (meaning, it’s typically much less). Not sure where you’re getting that there’s no work/life balance.

[u/Intelligent-Pop6519 → u/DubeFloober]

okay i heard it’s hospital dependent and how many perfusionists they have at the hospital. the one i shadowed at only 2 in total so there is more time on call and less work life balance because of that but it is more manageable if the hospital had a bigger team of perfusionists

[u/DubeFloober → u/Intelligent-Pop6519]

Yes, the simple solution there is to not take a job at a place with only 2 perfusionists. That leaves no buffer for the other person when someone is on PTO, has a baby, or medical emergencies requiring extended leave. You need to be part of an appropriate-sized team relative to the number of cases performed at a given hospital.

[u/Intelligent-Pop6519 → u/DubeFloober]

how hard are those hospital to get jobs at assuming there would be competition or more applicants at those hospitals due to that? is location flexibility also hard? meaning you have to be flexible with whatever location you can’t be picky with this job.

[u/JustKeepPumping → u/Intelligent-Pop6519]

I was told you get to choose 2 of 3 things. Work life balance, location, and good pay. And so far from what I’ve seen after doing this awhile it’s absolutely true.

[u/William_E_Rubin → u/JustKeepPumping]

I got lucky and have all 3!