Over the last month, I've been experiencing a different side of medicine - not quite the side I had hoped to be experiencing at the moment, but that is still to come in a couple of months. For the last 4 weeks, I have been working as a locum in hospitals that I never even knew where they were, let alone what they were like. It's been an interesting experience in many ways, and it's made me think about my career and how we all interact in a work setting.
I promise not all of my posts are going to be my vague pseudo-philosophical ramblings, I'm sure I'll talk about climbing, food and randomness in the near future. But for today, I'm going to pretend I'm capable of serious thought (without the weird tea-based references).
As a whole, locums have a bit of a dodgy reputation: Why can't they get a real job? Why do they ask such odd questions? Why don't they do things exactly the same way as everyone who works here normally? Why do they get paid so much?
Having now spent a while in their shoes, things have started to make a bit more sense. I understand the appeal of being able to choose where and when to work (within certain constraints), and that despite of what we're told at university and in training jobs, you can step sideways and do other things. I met people who alternated A&E work with working on remote scottish islands as the 'GP' and had good breaks in between to spend time with family and friends. Some people don't want to become super-specialised and take on lots of management roles, they just want to do what they enjoy, get paid, and no work every day of their lives.
On starting as a locum, I was viewed with a little suspicion, until I had proven my competence, and that I actually did work. It was quite similar to starting at the beginning of my first job in F1, with the exception that then I was barely competent, but that was expected and there were lots of us in the same boat. I felt out of my comfort zone, not because of the medicine, but because the place and the systems were alien to me. I asked basic questions, I prescribed drugs that we didn't have in the hospital, I wrote on the wrong kind of paper - all seemingly basic things, if you know the system.
So all fairly positive stuff about locuming, things to learn about how people live their lives, and how I can be more of a help to locums that I meet in my career. There are some things that appeal less, and made me consider my priorities. In the last month, I have crammed in quite a lot of shifts, and have been a long way from home or anyone I know. I was told quite early on that there are always more shifts available and I would be able to work on my day off on a given week, if I had nothing better to do.
I spoke to people who work full time and do locums on the weekend, which initially really suprised me; I was constantly asked where I normally work, which seemed to be the norm for short term locums. Some people had their reasons - financial issues, sick relatives to support, even saving up for a holiday or a car. A few people I spoke to told me I should do some extra shifts on my weekends off, and gave me a complete look of surprise when I told them I'd rather spend time with friends or family doing things that I love doing rather than earn an extra few hundred pounds. They didn't have an answer when I asked what they needed the extra money for. Now, I don't really mind what anyone's motivation is for working and if one person's attitude is better than another towards money, but it made me think about why I do it. Currently the answer is very simple - I don't have a regular job, because I'm going somewhere that is expensive to fly to and I'm going to support myself while volunteering for a few months.
Do I want to do extra shifts when I get a regular job? Not unless I really need to - in my life I'd rather have more time and less money than the other way round. Do I want to be a 'career locum'? Not really - I miss spending more than a few weeks in the same hospital, and I want to be a specialist. Should I stop typing? Yes.
No comments:
Post a Comment