What You'll Learn From This Episode

Professional Identity & Purpose

• "Am I still a PT if I'm not practicing clinically?" - How Raji separates credentials from identity
• Redefining what impact looks like beyond direct patient care
• Why your clinical background is actually your competitive advantage in health tech

The Real Work of Career Transition

• Why your clinical resume won't work for non-clinical roles (and what to do instead)
• The exact LinkedIn strategies that opened doors for Raji
• How to handle rejection, pay cuts, and the humbling reality of starting over
• The networking approach that gets results without seeming desperate

Turning Challenges Into Fuel

• How Raji transformed workplace discrimination into career clarity
• Managing visa restrictions while building a new professional path
• Why COVID-19 became the catalyst she needed to make her move

Chapters

00:43 Raji Introduction

01:34 Starting out & Transitioning into Product Management

03:09 Journey from Clinical to Non-Clinical Roles

05:49 Navigating Challenges in Healthcare

08:43 The Impact of COVID-19 on Healthcare

11:14 Building Leadership Skills in Outpatient Care

14:11 Work-Life Balance and Career Growth

16:34 The Importance of Networking and Mentorship

19:10 Overcoming Rejection and Learning from Mistakes

21:46 Defining Success Beyond Clinical Roles

24:33 The Role of Curiosity in Professional Growth

27:16 Finding Belonging in a New Professional Identity

29:43 Embracing Change and New Opportunities

32:14 The Future of Healthcare and Product Management

Find Raji on LinkedIn:

Ready to Navigate Your Own Career Evolution?

If this conversation sparked something for you, you're not alone. Many healthcare professionals feel stuck or wonder what else might be possible beyond their current role. Get started with the StreamAhead Assessment here.

• Connect with Ruth on LinkedIn or Instagram

Feeling stuck in clinical practice but not sure if academia is for you? Think you missed your chance because you didn't do honours? Caroline Mills shows why your clinical frustrations might actually be pointing you toward your next career evolution.

Dr Caroline Mills is a senior lecturer in occupational therapy at Western Sydney University, Australia whose research is dedicated to improving the lives of autistic people and those who support them. After 11 years as an OT - including time as a school-based therapist working with autistic children across Australia, the UK, and China - burning questions about sensory interventions led her back to university for a PhD in this often controversial research area.Now, 20 years into her health career, current research spans supporting sensory processing in autistic children, aging autistic adults, technology applications for people with disabilities, and dementia interventions, always with a focus on applied research that makes real-world difference.

In this episode, Caroline answers:

• What does a typical academic week actually look like?
• What's the best and hardest thing about being in academia right now?
• How do you handle constant rejection and failure in research?
• How do you measure the real impact of your work when metrics don't tell the story?
• When do you say yes vs no to opportunities (and why you need a mission)?
• How do you find your identity when transitioning from clinician to academic?
• Should you go straight from graduation to academia or get practice experience first?
• What external constraints impact career development in research?
• How do you balance academic demands with having young children?

Caroline's honest insights cover:

• Why clinical experience was essential before her research career
• The toxic work culture in academia and how to navigate it
• Finding your research "people" across different departments
• Managing the slow pace of research
• Building resilience for the rejection-heavy academic world

Perfect for: Clinicians considering research, health professionals curious about academia, or anyone wondering about the reality behind university life.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Academia and Current Role

09:04 Challenges and Rewards in Academia

15:52 The Journey into Research and PhD

20:35 Research Focus and Controversies

27:46 Navigating Opportunities and Saying No

36:19 The Slow Pace of Research

41:26 Career Path and Identity in Academia

47:32 External Influences and Support Systems

Show Links:

• The Conversation
• Connect with Caroline Mills on LinkedIn HERE

Ready to explore if research or education could be your next evolution? Take the StreamAhead Assessment to discover which career pathway truly aligns with your strengths and interests. Learn more HERE.

Content note: This episode includes brief discussion of childhood trauma in a therapeutic context. You can listen from time 13:45 to avoid this part.

Episode Summary

What happens when a social work student breaks all the rules and trusts her instincts with a traumatised four-year-old? Dr Sophie Archibald's career-defining moment came not from textbooks, but from an imaginary crown and the courage to lean into the unknown.

From getting rejected from grad school (twice) to juggling motherhood with a PhD, Sophie's journey from clinical social worker to mind-body medicine researcher challenges everything we're taught about professional boundaries. Her story reveals how our most authentic moments as practitioners often happen when we stop following protocols and start trusting what emerges naturally.

This conversation is raw, real, and refreshingly honest about the messy realities of career evolution in healthcare - including why compartmentalisation is a myth and mac and cheese dinners are perfectly acceptable fuel for ambitious dreams.

What we explore:

• The pivotal early childhood classroom moment that changed everything
• Why being rejected from grad school was actually a gift
• Navigating motherhood while pursuing advanced degrees (spoiler: mac and cheese is perfectly fine)
• The myth of compartmentalisation in healthcare and why we need to let ourselves be "moved and changed" by our patients
• Finding the thread that connects all your work, regardless of role changes
• Taking responsibility for what you want instead of just reacting to external pressures

About Dr Sophie Archibald

Dr Sophie Archibald is a licensed clinical social worker, mind-body medicine researcher, and academic who specialises in therapeutic relationships and clinical intuition. With a PhD in Mind-Body Medicine, she challenges traditional paradigms around professional boundaries and explores how healthcare providers can authentically integrate their humanity into practice.

Guest Links:

• Connect with Sophie on LinkedIn ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠
• Listen to Sophie's podcast 'Fully Human Psychology' ⁠⁠HERE⁠

Career Cliniq Resources

StreamAhead Assessment - Discover which healthcare workstreams align with your evolving interests. Perfect for social workers, mental health professionals, and clinicians exploring pathways to grow their career with or beyond practice.

What happens when a physical therapist tells their spouse, "I just have this itch—I need to share what I know with somebody else"? For Cody Thompson, that dining table moment sparked a 15-year journey from home health practice to remote PhD faculty.

Cody's evolution challenges every assumption about linear healthcare careers. From driving two hours each way to teach as a lab assistant, to strategically leveraging market needs for program director roles, his story reveals how curiosity and opportunity can reshape your entire trajectory. This conversation explores practical realities of transitioning into healthcare education, financial calculations most clinicians get wrong, and why we're missing countless career branches by staying in our comfortable scope of practice lanes.

We Explore

• How do you recognise when professional restlessness points toward something new?
• What does it mean to trade unmotivated patients for hungry students?
• When is uncertainty worth sacrificing familiar comfort?

• How can you leverage organisational needs with existing skills?

• What financial calculations do healthcare professionals get wrong about education roles?
• How do you maintain professional identity while expanding into unexpected territories?

About Cody Thompson

Cody Thompson is a physical therapist and Associate Professor with over 20 years of experience who transitioned into healthcare education. He currently runs a health science PhD program at a university in Alabama and helps healthcare professionals navigate career transitions into academic roles. Cody is also a father of five and advocates for building career flexibility that aligns with personal values and life circumstances.

Guest Links

• Connect with Cody on LinkedIn
• Non-Clinical Gig Job Board (US-based)
  

Career Cliniq Resources

Inspired by Cody's journey? The ⁠StreamAhead Assessment⁠ helps health professionals discover which of eight healthcare workstreams align with your current interests and life circumstances.  Find out more ⁠HERE.

Join the Conversation

LinkedIn: @DrRuthVo @CareerCliniq | Instagram: @drruthvo