Welcome to January 2015: I’ve rubbed in the last drop of alcohol hand gel from those Christmas Out of Hours shifts and I’m excited to be starting the year as Network Locum’s new GP columnist. This means that we’ll be bringing you more regular postings from myself and from our guest columnist, Dr Surina Chibber who’ll be bringing a splash of youth to our cyber GP world.
We’ll be taking a lighthearted, informative and controversial look at work including talking about how innovation is changing medicine. We’ll be asking questions affecting today’s GPs such as is it ever ok to google in front of your patients and what are the real pros and cons of giving and receiving feedback? There’ll also be quarterly CPD updates from Network Locum’s outstanding education evenings to keep you in the loop if you can’t attend.
To inspire you, we’ll be profiling GP entrepreneurs, appraisers and talking to high flying GPs who are also working mums. Portfolios can be a fantastic way to expand your skills and cross-fertilise these across your roles but as I start the year, I realise I have 6 different hats including 7 sessions in clinical practice and my work life needs not so much as pruning but more of a radical trim. I’ll talk more about portfolios including what makes one function in the manner of a healthy ecosystem that makes you a better doctor and colleague instead of a life that is bulging with emails and evening meetings oozing into your personal time.
I’m also excited about Network Locum’s new GP Ambassador role. Network Locum are looking for GP Ambassadors to promote their clinical education programme and networking events as well as speak to VTS groups about life as a locum GP. Locuming can be isolating but it doesn’t have to be if we take the opportunity to meet up.
This is a pioneering opportunity for the right sort of person who is personable, outgoing and loves bringing people together. I’ll also be profiling Ambassadors on this blog so look out for meeting them on here. You can read more about the Ambassador role here.
No blogger is an island and so we’re also making this page more interactive by inviting contributions from you. Have something useful to share about GP life or a way to improve things for patients? Something funny or unusual or an opinion you’d like to share?
Think you can get your point across in 600 words or less without it turning into an essay or dissertation?
Email us with your subject idea at blog@networklocum.com. We also have a pool of topics we’d like to see covered if you want a voice but don’t know what to say. Finally we’re keen to hear about GPs doing fascinating things, so if your inner Jonathan Ross is keen to interview someone you know, we’re waiting to hear from you.
Dr Claire Davies
MRCP, MRCGP, DTM&H, MFTM (RCP Glas.)
Lead Columnist
Dr Claire Davies is a salaried and locum GP in Hackney amongst too many other things.
Network Locum 