Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Not a real big Irish population here in Levin. Had a great first day at the Tararua Health Team. I’m the only doctor, covering for a doctor on holiday for the week. My clinic is in a big new very nice health center with a few other private GPs, PT, nursing and a small inpatient ward which I don’t have to deal with. This seems like a really nice place to spend my last week of work…
Back to Auckland
Getting ready to leave for our worldwind tour of the South Island with 6 of our friends! Should be fun traveling in a pack of 8 in two station wagons! We’re flying out of Auckland and into Christchurch- then driving down the West Coast, over the Southern Alps. Our next work plans are up in the air right now- our locums company isn’t really all about ‘planning ahead’! We may stay down in the South Island for a little more traveling before heading back north to work for a week or so and then home! These three months have really gone by fast!
Our new abode…
We’re staying at a ‘home stay’ in Waiuku. Trish, a local nurse, has been generous enough to let us stay in her home while we’re here. It’s a great house, with tons of gardens, located out in the country. AND we have a kitty to hang out with- Copper!
Waiuku
Our new assigment- 2 weeks in Waiuku, a little town about an hour south of Auckland with the Harbor on one side and the Tasman Sea on the other. Seems alot less stressful than Hobbiton was! Only 7 shifts a week and no overnight call!
Locum Tenens Tips
Ask, ask, ask (and you might receive!)- this applies to…
1. more $$ (per hour or shift)
2. housing (ask for the budget and see if you can find a place on your own- then have them pay. this beats living in a hotel although you miss out on frequent ‘miles’)
3. extras- as in…cable/internet/phone/parking/car upgrades-4WD in winter
4. scheduling- an afternoon off every week? three day weekends? this can be in the contact in advance or worked out when you first get there and meet with their office manager
More to come…each time is a new learning experience…
Locum Tenens- Lamprey, Nashua Area Health Clinic, Nashua, NH
Another community clinic but with only 3 locations- the main one being outside of Manchester. The Nashua Clinic is located downtown Nashua, adjacent to Southern NH Medical Center. With a staff of 2-3 MDs (1-2 full time) and an NP and 2 midwives, there has been alot of turnover lately and they have relied on locums to fill in. Unfortunately, they seem to have had a few bad (really bad!) experiences and are pretty reluctant to continue along with new locums (hopefully my time there helped to change this attitude!). The staff here really make the clinic a wonderful place to work! Almost all women, they have a real family feel and treat the patients with respect. I got to enjoy quite a few parties and potlucks during my 2 months there. They also have an EMR which is pretty easy to use. As usual, all the regular trials and tribulations of a community clinic exist but the atmosphere here makes those issues alot easier to deal with. See other posts for info on Nashua.
Locum Tenens- CHC Tacoma, WA
This is a pretty large group practice with multiple clinics around greater Tacoma. Each clinic has its own feel and patient population which are remarkably different, even just a few blocks apart. The staff is mostly bilingual and although it could be frustrating to find a translator, they really tried hard to be available to the doctors. Each MD is assigned an MA, all of who were competent. There was also RNs and LPNs available if you needed them for something more advanced. Colleagues were fantastic and even the Medical Director was always available. In general, people are pretty happy at these clinics. As to be expected, the patient population (this is an underserved community clinic) takes some getting used to (especially if you’ve been in private practice). Coming straight from residency made this transition pretty easy!
I chose to live in Federal Way although if I went here again I would suggest one of the nicer areas in downtown Tacoma, which has a bit of an ‘up and coming’ feel- especially down on the water.
