I pretty much moved out of San Diego, spent a few days in Birmingham, AL (where my sister lives), spent a few days in Miami (home), and started my new assignment in Virginia Beach all within 1 week.
I immediately regretted my decision to only take 1 week off between assignments. However, I knew that the position in Virginia Beach was desperate for me to start since one of their physicians had retired abruptly.
Flights have been cheap lately – my flight from San Diego to Miami was only $125 one way. Yet, for some reason the flights from Miami to Virginia Beach were ridiculous for the date I needed – about $500 one way. Most of them had layovers and the total flight time was about 10 hours. So, I opted for the only non-stop flight which was at 7 am and a total of 2.5 hours of flight time. I also regretted this decision when I had to wake up at 4:30 am that morning to make my flight on time.
Even though my agency knew about this assignment since January (I started in April), they still hadn’t found me an apartment. Thus, I had to stay at a hotel the first 1-2 weeks. I usually like to stay at a residence inn Marriott but these were apparently over budget. I settled for a Towneplace Suites Marriott since it was still a Marriott and had a kitchenette. When I went to check it, turns out it is no longer a Marriott chain. It was now an Extended Stay hotel. My room smelled horrible and the a/c barely worked. I was too tired to request a different hotel. I quickly showered and was disgusted by the towels which were more like rags from a car wash and lint from the towel would stick to me. I was additionally grossed out when I noticed how unclean the room was, with random hairs everywhere and dirty tables etc.
I sent an email to my recruiter telling her I would need to be moved to a different hotel the following day.
My first day in the clinic I was still tired from the previous day and annoyed that I wasn’t in a comfortable housing situation. However, the clinic staff made up for it. They were so nice, by decorating my desk and giving me flowers upon my arrival. Everyone made sure I was comfortable and reassured me to let them know if I needed anything.
Once I met everyone and completed meetings with leadership, I was disappointed to find out that my EHR login wasn’t working. I spent hours on the phone with IT getting everything re-set up. I hadn’t worked with this company for 5 months, and in a different state so they had to get everything transferred over. Not sure why this wasn’t done prior to my start date. I was grateful I didn’t have any patients until the afternoon. By then my EHR access was working but no e-prescribe. So once again I was back on the phone with IT.
During lunch, my agency had moved me to another hotel. It didn’t have a kitchenette, just a mini fridge and microwave. But I was desperate and figured I could survive like that for just 1-2 weeks. I was moved to a Courtyard Marriott. I am very happy with the change – nothing beats having a place you feel safe and can relax in after work. Also, as a Marriott Titanium Member, I was given a $10/day credit to use at the café or snack bar.
My second day at work I was able to see a few other people I knew from my time working in Virginia before, which was nice. I started seeing a full day of patients. Some of the patients were distressed when they found out their PCP retired, but luckily I was able to calm them down and they felt better once they realized they would still be taken care of until their new PCP starts over the summer.
At the end of the day, I received a surprise delivery of an Edible Arrangement and bag of flavored popcorn. It was a gift from the medical director welcoming me back to Virginia. I thought that was incredibly sweet! They keep hinting that they really want me to stay longer. It’s way too early for me to make that decision.
So far the specific clinic I am working at is nice. The other providers are friendly and check in with me to make sure I am doing ok. And they don’t expect me to see all of the walk-ins (which has been a problem in similar clinics elsewhere). The clinic is reluctant to overwhelm me, that I had to encourage them to give me more patients and to send me medication refill requests for the retired physicians patient panel.
Even though things started a bit rocky, I am happy to say I am looking forward to my assignment here!
What a NICE welcome!