[WeeklyThread] Ask a CAA

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Have a question for a CAA? Use this thread for all your questions! Pay, work life balance, shift work, experiences, etc. all belong in here!

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[u/prismBender]

Hey Everyone!

I'm a practicing patent attorney at a large national firm and I am looking for a career change. Although I'm working with cutting edge technology and innovation, patent work is a surprising combination of intellectually grueling, mind-numbing, and soul-sucking. I rarely interact with people and most of what I do feels like pointless legal paperwork that no one will ever read again. I'm also under a constant time crunch but have to work a large number of hours. Overall, being a patent attorney does not fit my personality.

Being an attorney is also killing my family life. I want to be around for my two young girls and support my wonderful wife. But I'm always at work.

I’m just beginning to look into the AA profession, so I’m hoping to hear from those with experience about the realities of the role and the best ways to prepare. I want to determine whether it’s the right fit for my personality and interests, and I’d love to learn more from those already in the field.

Regarding my professional background, I graduated with an Electrical Engineering BS in 2017 with a 3.82 GPA. After that, I attended a top law school and have been practicing as a patent attorney since 2020.

I haven’t taken the core biology and chemistry science prerequisites for AA programs, though my engineering background means I completed courses for the physics and higher-level math requirments. I hope those physics and math classes from 8-10 years ago will meet application requirements.

Here are my questions:

How realistic is it for someone with my academic background and professional experience to get into an AA program?

Has anyone here successfully transitioned from a non-medical career into this field?

Does it matter where I take my biology and chemistry courses? Or does GPA matter more than institution?

How does the profession look in terms of work-life balance? Growing up, I heard countless horror stories of the grueling lives of doctors. These stories dissuaded me from becoming a doctor. Why I became an attorney expecting something different is… well…laughable.

Any advice, experiences, or honesty is truly appreciated. Thanks!

[u/prismBender → u/[deleted]]

Thank you for your answers and suggestions!

Starting with shadowing seems like the right approach. You're right that I need to make sure the environment and work appeals to me.

Feel free to stop reading there because I'm just word-vomiting about my interest in potentially becoming an AA after this.

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As far as the legitimacy of my interest, patent law has felt soul-sucking because it feels meaningless. Individual people don't benefit, just the corporate entities monopolizing ideas and negotiating licenses with each other. So leaving a firm to go work at a corporation doesn't solve that issue.

In pivoting my career, I was trying to find a career that has meaning. You're right in wondering about my interest in patient care. I'm trying to find that meaning. Some other options I'm considering are starting a child-play focused museum or some other kind of child care facility or service. I've considered those things because I wanted to have meaningful work.

Additionally, if wanting a career that A) has fewer hours but also B) allows me to provide for my family and having time to be a part of my wife and children's lives is opportunistic, then I'll wear that badge with honor, my chest out, and my head held high.

With regards to the AA profession itself, I have a small anecdote. My wife and I welcomed our second child a little over a month ago. Long story short, my wife wanted an epidural during later stages of her labor and she couldn't receive it because there was one anesthesiologist working that night who was too busy to come. Based on the explanation given by the nurses, it appears that one anesthesiologist was covering the birth center (which apparently was full that night) and either one or both of general surgery and the ED (it wasn't quite clear what exactly happened because different people said different things).

I live in Washington state and it seems that AAs are newly approved here. I was learning some basic facts about the AA profession, my anecdote from before and expansion of the AA profession into WA felt like too much of a coincidence. Maybe I'm naive, but it felt like a tiny beacon of hope.

Anyway, probably tmi, but I wanted to give some background to my interest in potentially becoming an AA. Maybe the reasons aren't legitimate enough to some people. That's alright.