Working in Ohio

I am working with the geriatric clinics I often work for. The Columbus, Ohio clinic I am at is only 1.5 years old. I usually avoid the newer clinics because they are often disorganized – as I learned working in Lakeland, Florida in the past.

My first day, I was a bit overwhelmed because I saw they had filled up my schedule for the following day with all 20-minute follow ups, so I already had a full jam packed schedule. Since I don’t know any of the patients, I am supposed to have 30-40 minutes with them for their first visit with me. I was also told that I didn’t have a medical assistant.

Fortunately, the center manager quickly fixed my schedule. This ended up being a blessing because even though I didn’t have my own medical assistant, by having longer visits, the other medical assistants had time to help me out in between caring for their PCPs patients.

Since then, I have had a great experience! The clinic vibe is more laid back than from where I just came from (Virginia Beach). There is no micromanagement – I think because they are newer they have that luxury.

Instead of seeing 20 complex geriatric patients per day like I was in Virginia Beach, I am only seeing about 10-12 patients per day. On my first day I asked the center manager to put a couple of blocks on my schedule for admin time, and he did so without contesting – (as they had in Virginia Beach).

The patients are very friendly, appreciative, and straightforward. I am one month in and haven’t met even one rude patient. This is in comparison to Virginia Beach where my patient panel mostly consisted of psych patients, in which some called every single day with a “new” problem. In fact, the patients here have been so complimentary. They’ve told me they appreciate my patience; how I break things down to a level they can understand; and even compliment my accent (Miami accent) haha.

We are provided with lunch 2-3 x a week which is an added bonus. Staff are very social and get together almost every week after work to hang out. The other PCPs are really nice and friendly.

I feel so appreciative to work in a non-stressful setting. It’s a complete 360 from working in Virginia Beach. I have time to enjoy my lunch and read a good book; finish work on time and go for a nice bike ride.

A new nurse practitioner started at the same time as me. It ended up working out because I have the time to help train her since the other PCPs here are pretty new themselves. She has told me multiple times that she would have probably quit had I not been there for support. Even though sometimes I wonder if the clinic really needs me, I think at least I am facilitating the success of their permanent PCP.

They do need me because the clinic acquired a retiring physician’s practice. So they need help getting all of those new patients seen and established. Plus I am covering some of the PCP vacations.

It’s funny because one of the medical assistants asked me how come I am always calm and asked me if anything ever stresses me out. I said “I’ve seen it all”. And told her that this clinic is actually a gem and sometimes I think they (the Ohio staff) make things a bigger problem than they really are.

That’s the wonderful part of doing locums. If you dislike your job, you have the benefit of knowing it will end soon. And you can quickly start a job that you enjoy. I am soaking every minute of being in Ohio!