On Call all the time...

I am entering my second week of 24/7 call for my colleague who is away's large OB practice. There are 9 patients due while he is away for 3 weeks. I average 3-4 per month, so 9 is a lot! I have a few things to say about being on call all the time - even if you don't have to go in, it affects your sleep, your exercise, your relationships, your life. It makes you preoccupied all the time and question every walk, where you go/if you go out for dinner, every sip of wine. I don't know how he does it. The guy I'm covering for has a very different situation from mine and due to home circumstances doesn't go out much. He is always available. He does almost all of the c-sections assists at this hospital and he only works 4 afternoons in clinic a week. Contrast this with my life - training for cycling season, like to go out with my hubby, working 5 days a week in clinic. I'm not sure 9 deliveries will ever be for me unless I have more flexibility like he does. This famly day I had a delivery that took way longer than it should have with a baby that kept flip flopping from transverse to vertex after her water broke and a bleeding 24 weeker barely viable with a placenta previa on one u/s and a placenta 2.5cm from the os on another u/s. I have a full day of office today. I'm exhausted. I can expect at least 2-3 more deliveries this week. Hopefully I don't have to do any inductions for post-dates.

pros and cons of family medicine

I think that if I write this post right now as a reader asked me to, it might come out sounding bitter because I've worked too much this week for seemingly no pay (being a locum, I only get paid for hours seeing patients and the physician who the patients are rostered to gets paid directly from the government... ). Excuse me while I go take a nap. Except that I'm on call for OB so might get called in.

life as a locum...

Sometimes during life as a locum very awkward things happen. For example, you walk into an exam room and there is a patient there for a pap test who you went to university with... You're not sure if she remembers you. You have to then examine her intimately. AWKWARD. So you say "oh hi" at the beginning and then go about the physical choosing not to mention who you are because she of course knows your name (I'm Doctor ***) but does she recognize you? Sometimes it's better to meet patients with their pants on so these moments can be avoided. But then the whole changing interval ruins your schedule's flow. This is the life of a locum...

cleaner day 1

I'm impressed by how much cleaning I did for the cleaner... Before they got here I tidied within an inch of my life to prevent them thinking we're slobs. I didn't clean anything but wanted them to have a clear path to clean. For a first time, it wasn't bad. A few things they missed that will drive me crazy and I'll be sure to mention (leaving our garage light on for one and not sweeping under our bathroom scale or cleaning the scale, not cleaning the inside of the microwave) but the woman was nice and I'm happy to support her two woman business. Next clean, two weeks. The only thing I found odd was giving a key to my house to a total stranger...

yay!

Today Ben finally gave up and told me we could get a cleaning lady. I will have to decide on weekly vs. q2weeks. We're pretty messy but I'm not sure we need weekly. I'm looking forward to not having to clean the bathroom.