You overcame the odds against you. For years you focused on education and service, and have excelled in your profession. And now you may be enjoying the blessings of mid-career: financial reserve, respect among your peers, children who are thriving and departing the nest. You are mid-career and pondering where to go from here. It’s an uncertainty frequently voiced to us at INMED.
Simply continuing to expand your income is an option, though one that’s not often satisfying. In 2010, Kahneman and Deaton documented that higher income earners usually report higher life satisfaction. However, that satisfaction only rose with earnings up to a threshold annual income of $75,000.1 What correlates with happiness beyond that point? They found the answer lies in personal freedom, meaningful work, and deepening relationships.
Oscar Paulo is one remarkable example of such satisfaction in action. Recipient of the 2014 INMED National Healthcare Service Award, he initially served as medical officer for the United States Embassy in Angola, southern Africa. Now in his fifties and enjoying relative mid-career flexibility, Dr. Paulo founded a medical clinic caring for the disadvantaged in the suburbs of Angola’s capital city. But his vision is greater than what he alone can accomplish. Recognizing the shortage of trained healthcare personnel, Dr. Paulo recently established a scholarship program to select and train Angolan medical students, personally mentoring them in professional, spiritual, and personal life skills required for this nation’s unique challenges. Says Oscar Paulo, “My model for prosperity is expressed in 1 Timothy chapter 6, ‘Godliness with contentment is great gain… But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that…But you, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, and endurance.’”
Personal freedom, meaningful work, and deepening relationships have many potential expressions. For those committed to healthcare advocacy for marginalized people, INMED offers a strategic launch: ACIHE accredited Diploma programs in both International Public Health and International Medicine & Public Health. These combine core knowledge with a supervised service learning experience with faculty like Dr. Paulo at INMED Training Sites available in twenty-five nations. Do you already have significant experience? INMED offers an Equivalency process to recognize your skills.
Mid-career and pondering where to go from here? Take advantage of your flexibility and resources by making an investment of your time in an underserved community.
1. Holmes, Bob (7 September 2010). “Money can buy you happiness – up to a point.” New Scientist. Retrieved 04 June 2014.