So what's next?

It's hard to believe how fast time has flown! August 6th was the end date to my 3 month extension at Packard/Stanford. The summer really started flying by and before I knew it I was down to 2 weeks of work and no contract lined up next! I was ok with this, even looking forward to the unknown because it meant guaranteed time off! The original plan was to pack up, visit a few friends spread throughout California, and take my sweet time driving back across country to take an assignment on the East Coast. Working at Boston Children's has been a dream of mine! Why? Well, it's the first children's hospital of our country and they have one of the top PICU's in the country! I've lost a lot of skills out here in California, and while I'm not complaining about my unionized lunch breaks and slower paced work life I do find myself anxious to get back to a higher acuity/faster paced PICU. Sadly, they don't have any PICU positions open right now.

However, the longer I'm in California the harder it is to leave. I've SO enjoyed these last 6 months in Palo Alto. I'd say it's a combination of the friends I had and reunited with here, the friends I've made, the weather, the fun destinations, the church I've been attending, etc. Reality has set in that there are more travel spots in CA than anywhere else, plus some of these jobs are offering bonuses. It was a hard decision, but my recruiter convinced me to be open to staying another contract in the Bay Area. My new plan is to get a job at UCSF and move into/closer to the city, due to maintaining friendships here and also a nice bonus to pay the bills. How far along in the process am I? My profile has been submitted, but since HR is notoriously slow at UCSF I also created my own resume and passed it along at the encouragement of my friends (currently on assignment there) to the PICU manager. To buy some time, I requested a 3 wk extension and Packard and they accepted. I'm so thankful for the extra few weeks of work, a place to live, and the extra time with friends. Please be thinking of me/praying during these next few weeks that it will be made clear to me what/where my next assignment should be!