If you are a locum doctor that is good at their job then you should never be short of work. Locuming is a special skill, for example, a locum has to walk into an unknown medical practice and in the time that they are there they need to impress the staff and patients – which can be pretty tough. However, as this blog highlights, people that can develop this flexibility, can find being a locum is not just satisfying, but also offers an interesting way of life.
As a locum doctor you need to make the 10 minutes spent with the patient rewarding for both of you. You can give patients the opportunity to tell their story afresh. Perhaps looking at a problem from a new perspecive will give the patient a new or different point of view. Perhaps you will spot a missed diagnosis – we have read this in the news many times.
Over the length of your career as a locum doctor you will gain various skills, experiences and see diverse practice cultures. As a locum you may be able to help and perhaps influence a change of culture in the practice and persuade at least some of them there is no magic bullet for viral illnesses. Or if the practice is disorganised you can find an acceptable way to offer advice so that when you or a colleague is next to work there, things will function a little better?
If you are a newly qualified GP, you will probably envy friends or graduates who move straight into a partnership. However, they miss the opportunity to broaden their experience. You may be a locum because there is nothing else available, but make the most of it. Gather experience in small and large practices, practices in the city and in rural areas.
The perks of locum work
- As a locum doctor you are your own boss; you have flexibility about when and where you work.
- Locum work combines well with a portfolio career or with any form of double life, whether it be family, hobby or other employment.
- Locums are not directly burdened with NHS bureaucracy and managing a practice, so can concentrate on patient care.
- Locums may not have long-term relationships with their patients but there is great professional satisfaction in making every consultation matter and in helping practices out.
- You can come to grips with different medical software and different ways of recording consultations.
Locums need practices to get work and practices need GP locums when a doctor is off sick and they have a waiting room full of patients. BeeFound helps connect locums with practices by matching the availability of Locums with the needs of Practices.
Join for free today – https://www.beefound.co.uk/
