This was something mentioned at the White Pine discussion on Saturday, March 21st, except I think they were quoting 2021 gainful employment info. I asked why there seemed to be such strong implication that the data was, "wrong", since that was the impression I was receiving from the presenters. Answers were similar, along the lines that some folks WANT to work part time (OK, not worried about them), some that 2021 was a, "bad year" for data (except this issue has persisted beyond 2021, some saying that since many are self-employed, they're using deductions to report lower earnings. I realize there is not a one-size fits all solution to this situation, but seems there needs to be actual focus on job creation/placement, and finding ways to make schooling more affordable. I had a sole practice for about 10 years, but decided to give it up when employment outside of TCM just made more life and financial sense. Not everyone wants, or should have to be self-employed. I want to be able to pay off debt, take PTO, and plan for retirement. Also seems the default plan for many LAc.s is to sell their practice when they're ready to retire to new graduates. Good luck with that.
I’m so sorry that you had to give up your practice. 😢 Some of the older data in these letters comes from social security data. Most of it comes from AGI on federal taxes. It might not be perfect but it’s pretty reliable and it gives us a fair understanding of reality. It does start to feel like gas lighting with how they continue to attack the data.
It's OK. The reason was multifactorial, including buying a house and moving, and the issue with self-employment tied to a physical location is just that. It's easy enough for other medical professionals to just find a local, paid position vs. starting all over again. And yes, it does feel like gas lighting when the associations and schools both act very disinterested and brush off concerns. I know a lot of practitioners were turned off by the lack of response during COVID, discussions around cultural appropriations, etc. and just don't even participate with the associations anymore. And because so many have had to become self-employed, I think they're often just too busy to tune into this kind of stuff. I'll continue to pay attention to this stuff, but it's hard to have much sympathy for the schools to be honest. Thanks for your blog!
This was something mentioned at the White Pine discussion on Saturday, March 21st, except I think they were quoting 2021 gainful employment info. I asked why there seemed to be such strong implication that the data was, "wrong", since that was the impression I was receiving from the presenters. Answers were similar, along the lines that some folks WANT to work part time (OK, not worried about them), some that 2021 was a, "bad year" for data (except this issue has persisted beyond 2021, some saying that since many are self-employed, they're using deductions to report lower earnings. I realize there is not a one-size fits all solution to this situation, but seems there needs to be actual focus on job creation/placement, and finding ways to make schooling more affordable. I had a sole practice for about 10 years, but decided to give it up when employment outside of TCM just made more life and financial sense. Not everyone wants, or should have to be self-employed. I want to be able to pay off debt, take PTO, and plan for retirement. Also seems the default plan for many LAc.s is to sell their practice when they're ready to retire to new graduates. Good luck with that.
I’m so sorry that you had to give up your practice. 😢 Some of the older data in these letters comes from social security data. Most of it comes from AGI on federal taxes. It might not be perfect but it’s pretty reliable and it gives us a fair understanding of reality. It does start to feel like gas lighting with how they continue to attack the data.
It's OK. The reason was multifactorial, including buying a house and moving, and the issue with self-employment tied to a physical location is just that. It's easy enough for other medical professionals to just find a local, paid position vs. starting all over again. And yes, it does feel like gas lighting when the associations and schools both act very disinterested and brush off concerns. I know a lot of practitioners were turned off by the lack of response during COVID, discussions around cultural appropriations, etc. and just don't even participate with the associations anymore. And because so many have had to become self-employed, I think they're often just too busy to tune into this kind of stuff. I'll continue to pay attention to this stuff, but it's hard to have much sympathy for the schools to be honest. Thanks for your blog!
i would love to hear a direct, personal, compassionate response to this - a REAL response - from the ASA.
Will we hold ourselves accountable, as a profession? This is a very important question.