Past or present tense?

During this time clinicians often discussed the nature of healthcare careers and the reasons why they LOVE their professions. *is present tense.

Although the discussions occurred in the past, the clinicians still love their careers in the present.

I'm not sure about that. A general rule of thumb I use is: if you are writing in the past tense, keep your character descriptions or actions in the past tense. Nearly everything should stay in the past tense. The same goes for writing in the present tense: keep your descriptions in the present tense. Mid sentence tense changes can be clunky and distract the reader.

Even though (presumably) they still love their profession in the present, I would use 'loved'.