> --
> Stephen Hughes Very disillusioned SpR, 12 years wasted, looking to
> business as a
> way out of this dismal specialty and abysmal profession full of liars,
> cheats,
> wasters and people who do well just by staying put despite their lack of
> ability.
>
>
Part of our job (collectively) is to refocus, reenergise and generally keep motivated our colleagues. The specialty will be dismal if
we let it become so; the profession abysmal if we drop our standards and the liars and cheats should be exposed and dealt with. I
am not being sanctimonious here - look at the damage one doctor with a penchant for control with diamorphine did to the
profession. Part of the transition from SpR to Consultant involves accepting that responsibility. There is nobody else to blame,
nobody to tell to do it better - just the mirror.
Have a little sympathy for those promoted just beyond their comfort zone - I suspect that it is very difficult to know who will
prosper and who will flounder at higher levels. There are lots of bits of medicine I don't do particularly well and it is fortunate that I
don't meet them very often. I find acutely psychotic people very challenging, for example, and can find myself shaking like a leaf
after dealing with them. I'm sure I don't function very well for an hour or so afterwards. One of the most difficult things to say as a
senior is "I don't know" or "I can't do that" and I have enormous respect for those who say that and then accept an offer to go
through it together. We all go through periods of intense frustration or annoyance, and the thing I have learned (and usually the
hard way) is that you need to be introspective for a bit, find out what is causing this and deal with it. Of course you haven't wasted
12 years. So. List the ten things you are most disillusioned with that affect you directly. Do you want to do it on list or mail me
privately?
Best wishes,
Rowley Cottingham
[log in to unmask]
http://www.emergencyunit.com
|