I am a clinician and have been for 12 years and own/manage a private health clinic. 50% of my time is clinical, the other 50% is management including all the HR issues that go with running a business. 

I simply am not enjoying the clinical side of the work any longer and am handing over more and more of my patients to my colleagues and am taking on more of the management and HR issues. I essentially manage payroll, hiring and firing, interviews, all clinic policies, manage contracts with insurance companies and staff, handle any complaints, create and manage audits,,,,the list goes on. I thoroughly enjoy the HR side of things and want to underpin the knowledge i have gained in the last 12 years with the CIPD Level 5 diploma. 

I essentially want to move over full time in to an HR role once i have qualified and can bring in a manager to run my business and I can just oversee it strategically moving forward.

I therefore can take an inevitable pay cut moving in to HR as i will have a reciprocal income from elsewhere. 

I am 40 and am still very ambitious and would like a successful career in HR in the future. I have been reading these blogs for months and have spoken to HR professionals who are all very encouraging.

I would just like to ask you good folk, a) am i mad doing this? b) am i too old already to make a good career, career progression in HR, c) is the CIPD L5 Dip correct for me? d) should i seek some alternative HR experience away from the confines of my clinic to see how others do it?

Thanking you all in advance.

Mark