Well, 10 years after starting medical school, 4 years after graduating, I’ve finally started working in GP.
I can’t describe how happy I am to finally be working Mon-Fri 8:30am-6pm, with only occasional weekends and evenings.
Oh, and no bleep (pager)- utter bliss. The only time I’ll ever have to work in a hospital again is at a time and date of my own choosing, at locum rates, and I couldn’t be happier.
I only have another 17 months of working as a trainee GP (oh, and a couple of exams) before I become a fully independent, self-employed GP, with the insurance premiums to match.
Well done! The dope has been following your progress. I remember when you graduated med school! Enjoy your wealth of newfound personal time. Any plans for new hobbies?
What, you didn’t enjoy being on call, working ungodly hours, never getting enough sleep, dealing with irate/drunk/disgusting/dead people? And the food, how could you possibly not miss that!
Things I won’t miss: the bleep, the food in the canteen, working 39 hours over a weekend or a 90 hour week, A&E on a Saturday night, not having my own space, never sitting down for more than 15 minutes at a stretch, endless ward rounds, politicking with the MDT (i.e. trying hard not to piss off the nursing staff) and routine daily bloods and lines.
Things I will miss: being able to discharge patients, always being busy, having results available the same day, always having people to chat with, that friendly cuppa the nurses make you at 3am on a hellish night shift, handwriting notes (I like to draw diagrams- computers don’t let you do that) and having the option of being “unavailable because of an emergency”- patients now know where I am…all the time.
A&E= Accident & Emergency=Casualty=ER
You know, on a Saturday, the place drunk people go when they fall over and split their head open, or break their jaw in a fight, or fall out with their partner and take a lot of pills, or get found passed out in a gutter… and then puke all over or swear at the medical staff trying to patch them up.
