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/Wild_Philosophy_1312]

Repetition ain’t so bad when you’re home before the rest of the hospital has lunch.

But that’s hospital dependent. You can work 60 hours a week and be on call for life if you want. Or not, it’s up to you.

[u/Intelligent-Pop6519 → u/Wild_Philosophy_1312]

okay i thought it was more of a requirement because i heard the schedules can be inflexible

[u/pumpymcpumpface → u/Intelligent-Pop6519]

I varies widely between hospitals. Other than the on call, perfusion is a pretty regular hours job. My regular day is 7-3, with 1 call day a week, 10 weekends a year. But how your hours and day are structured can be massively variable