If Not a Doctor, What?

After touring the modular home factory, I sat in their conference room and told my builder how sorry I was going to be to have my house built. I explained how much I had enjoyed using Chief Architecture software to plan the layout, design each room, move my furniture in, and use the camera function to see how my furniture fit and how it looked when the sunlight and seasons changed.

I’d lie in bed at night and walk through the rooms. I’d cook and clean up in the kitchen. I’d imagine holidays with the family. I’d see one of us in a wheelchair. I’d awaken in the morning, rush to my computer, and use the software to change something that would make our last house our forever home.

I was going to miss drawing the house. My labor of love had turned into a love of the labor. My builder just stared at me and said, “I think they have a job opening here for a drawer. If you’re interested, I can check.”

I ordered my house and went home with a new part time job! I would share a workstation. On my workdays, the computer was mine. Two years after leaving the practice of medicine I had accepted a $10/hour position drawing modular houses.

I was like a kid at Christmas when introduced to the professional version of my DIY software. For the next 18 months, I had such fun that I was the first in when the factory doors were unlocked. I got special permission to remain when the last person left the building. I even had to be reminded that I was only part time. I loved every minute of it.

I worked in a room with five men. We worked at our individual projects in silence. But everyone was friendly and most helpful when I had a question or ran into problems or something new. There was no stress, no drama to carry home, and no one died. I wasn’t exhausted at night. Driving home, there was no second guessing my decisions.

Everyone knew me as Pam. I was disappointed only once when three months later a fellow employee took me aside to ask if it was true, I was a doctor. Busted!

Company layoffs looked imminent, so I asked my boss to lay me off first. I didn’t need the job, my colleagues did. I miss my work drawing houses, so now I draw plans for family and friends. So, if you need new or renovation plans, I’m your drawer gal. I have retired from both my 1st (doctor) and 2nd (architect) career choices.

My house? We moved in 19 months ago, and it’s just like I imagined and drew. We love it!

Pamela P. Bensen, MD, MS, FACEP
Newsletter Editor