I have always either worked for myself, or I’ve worked a second/third/rotating/oncall shift schedule. Well, I’ll now have an actual 9-5 job! It’s a job I really want, and I’ve been trying to get a job just like this for a long time (it’s in social work-- supported employment counselor and skills trainer for homeless men with dual diagnosis and past interaction with the criminal justice system.) This isn’t exactly one of those high-level managerial jobs, but it is a social work job, and I’ve been looking and applying and searching and God knows what else for a long time.
So here’s the problem. I just moved to the area, and I have a new psychiatrist (for PTSD and the aftereffects of a brain injury-- if my insurance covered it, I’d love to have a neurologist too.) BUT, because we’re still getting set up and getting my meds right, he wants to meet every few weeks. This is certainly the best medical practice, but HOW ON EARTH DO PEOPLE DO THIS when they have to work 9 to 5? I’ve been having panic attacks just thinking about trying to manage this.
Do I ask my supervisor now taking time for the appointment I’m supposed to have with my doctor first thing in the morning next Wednesday (orientation is next week)… and then what about future appointments… I do NOT know how people handle this… I’m an hour’s drive in the other direction from my job, too (my doctor is half an hour’s drive in the opposite direction… I’m working on finding a house halfway but I haven’t yet…) they have said at my workplace that they’ll need me to accompany clients on outings… some weekends and hopefully some evenings. I’m used to working those hours and I honestly would much prefer it.
PLEASE PLEASE some supportive and helpful answers. I really need some advice here!!!
I don’t work 9-to-5 exactly, but typically I get 7:30am or 8:00am appointments when they are available. For things that are 30 minutes or so, that should give you enough time to get to work.
The common, ordinary answer seems to be “take vacation time”. If you get flextime (i.e. you can be absent during normal business hours as long as you make up the time/your total hours are at least the minimum amount for the pay period), then you can do that.
Sorry. It does seem stupid to me. I would think that private practice doctors would know that most patients have a normal job and would prefer weekend hours. Any professional practitioners here care to explain why you can’t see patients/clients evenings and weekends and then have the middle of some of the weekdays to yourself? E.g. see patients all througout Saturday and also Tuesday evening from 5 to 10 and then make Wednesday a half day, and take all of Monday off.
I so wish I could do that. (groman’s idea, I mean.) The earliest available, though, is nine o’clock. It took several weeks of searching and calling to find any doctor with this specialty and in this area who was covered by Humana, so I really can’t go with anyone else, either. I guess I could ask about the flextime idea… the thing is that my first orientation day is Monday, so I hate to start OUT by doing this. The other thing is that the official statement in the employee handbook is that they don’t do flextime.
Wow, panic attacks are not fun. I haven’t had a full-blown one in awhile.
I’ve never had a problem with it, but my occupation leads to relaxed job hours. Assuming we are not against a deadline I will typically just tell my boss the day before that I have a doctor/dentist/whatever appointment and will be gone for an hour to two. I will then work late that day to make up for the time I was gone. Obviously this will not work for all jobs, but the idea of talking to your boss will. Most employers are pretty accommodating of making sure their employees stay as healthy as possible (as non healthy employees can lead to days off not just hours off). I know of very few jobs where a system can’t be developed to cover for an employee for an hour or two, but you need to let your boss know now so you can figure out what that system might be.
It is a pain to be in that situation and I have been there too. I always just waited a few weeks until after I started and booked appointments during lunch. You won’t be able to get to the appointment and be back in an hour but it will give you extra time. Just tell your boss that you have a recurring appointment for an important medical issue and explain how you plan to fit it in. Don’t give any specifics but chances are that your boss won’t ask. It isn’t very rare. Be straightforward with what you need. There may be some disability accommodation laws in place to help if you meet too much resistance. You boss may not like it but most know they can’t just tell you you can’t go to doctors appointments.
Personally, I would have a phone conference with the psychiatrist and explain the situation. Even though he/she would like to see you every few weeks, I would explain that you are starting a new job and find out if you could have phoned consultations for the first 90 days of your new job, AT LEAST.
A good psychiatrist will understand how important it is in the first few weeks of a new job and theoretically, after three months in a new job, it will be easier to start taking an occasional morning off for a doctor’s appointment.
But there is no way I would go into a new job with that pre-requisite. I would make sure the job is stable first.
I like the phone conference idea! What I might do, though, just for that first appointment that’s already set up, is to tell them that it IS already set up-- because the day the HR person called to tell me I was hired, she asked if I had classes I was finishing up, commitments to another job, etc. And I did tell her that there might still be some doctor’s appointment type things still to do. (I didn’t know then the exact date of this one, or I would have said when it was.) So it wasn’t as if they didn’t know that this particular one would be coming up.
There’s only one thing right now-- one of my prescriptions must be physically picked up each time and cannot be phoned in to the pharmacy, because it’s Focalin. All ADHD meds are considered Schedule II drugs, and the prescriptions have to be treated that way. However, there’s got to be a way around this… I don’t know what it is yet… something will come to me…
The panic attacks did pass. The secret is that they always do-- that’s the key piece of advice about them, of course. You have to wait them out. I realized that it’s not worth it. No matter what happens, everyone will live. What I’m hoping is that there actually WILL be some evening and weekend hours, and I’ll not only get weekdays off instead, but will know at least a week in advance what they will be. Because they’ve made it clear that part of the job will involve accompanying residents on outings, this is a real possibility.
It’s good that you have already told your employer about the issue, but it remains to be seen just how important your employer will take your situation. You need to let your employer know well ahead of time that you absolutely need the medication you obtain from this visit or you will be unable to work. If you obtain written proof of this from your doctor, your employer should have no trouble finding a way for it to happen. If they can’t, then they are likely too inflexible to be able to appropriately deal with someone in your condition anyway.
I personally find it very inefficient that almost everyone in the world works the exact same hours. Why aren’t shifts more staggered so that the roads are less packed with traffic, and people who work “normal” hours can easily find appointments like these without giving up work?
How much sick leave do you get? That’s what we’ve always used.
The other advice is to schedule appointments as far ahead of time as possible. Usually you can find a time you’ll fit, as doctors tend to have at least a little leeway. Or, if they don’t, I know a lot of them will make a special case until you can get things straightened out.
Also, it is my impression that social working jobs are often flexible. Stuff like helping someone out after hours can get you time off during normal hours.
I also lament that so many service professions do not have different hours from the rest of us. They wouldn’t have to be completely different, but a little leeway would be nice.
Anise - Honestly, I wouldn’t take any time during training/oreintation/probabaion unless I was hit by a bus or something. This is the time when they’re closely evaluating you, and deciding whether you’re a good fit. You don’t want them to think you’re going to be continually asking for time off.
I’d put off the first appointment until you get settled in and feel comfortable using your sick time.
StG
It’s not that they don’t know that, it’s that they don’t want to work weekends and evenings, and they are more important/valuable than you so they get to have their way.
I’d just be up front about it with your manager and try to schedule your appointments so they take up the least amount of your day (usually 1st appointment in the morning because the doc isn’t yet running late).
Go to your manager and say, “What’s your protocol for doctor’s office visits? I have one every few weeks in the coming months and wanted to warn you beforehand. If you need me to, I’ll make up any time I miss or will take vacation time.” If your manager is sane, he or she will realize that you probably have to go to the dentist, visit the doc, take a poo - everything everyone else does. And these things frequently have to be done during regular business hours.
Don’t lose sleep over it - just get it out of the way.
It is certainly a pain that everybody works the same hours, and there is always a personal to-do list of stuff that has to wait till “prime time” and interrupt the work day I promised my employer.
I was very worried about this problem years ago when I started weekly sessions during prime time. I never figured out how to handle it until the day it started. I just silently walked out and went to the session, and came back and got to work. I did this for several years, twice a week for some of it. I had been there maybe 2 or 3 years by this time. I worked hard and achieved plenty of nice things, and nobody ever asked or complained. I have no idea whether this would work for you, or set a bad example that would get you in trouble, or what.
Good luck. And welcome to the world of people who are usually unavailable when everything else is available and vice versa.
Huh, I wasn’t aware keeping standard business hours was an indicator of someone thinking they were more important or valuable than me. I’ll be sure to notify my vet, mechanic, bank, hardware store, the post office, the courthouse, and pretty much every business I ever have to deal with of this fact. I’m sure they will make an immediate rush to rearrange stuff to make my life more convenient. :dubious: