20 a day – why quit the habit?

I do get frustrated when I hear colleagues complaining about their ‘20-a-day’ job in the high street. I have worked in all areas of optometry: hospital, academia, independent, and multiple practice. So, having been around the houses now a few times, which job did I like the most? Which one would I recommend?

Well, it’s not as simple as that…

Despite the many roles I have had and still continue to work within, I find myself in practice rarely. Not through choice, I hasten to add, but rather as a result of circumstance. However, now that the University has broken up for the Summer, I have recently found myself, as Pete put it the other day, ‘back at the coal face.’

The coalface this time is an independent in the Midlands. Erm, I am their ‘Saturday Girl’ - I like that. Although I have opted out of this area of practice on a permanaent basis, I enjoy coming back to it time and time again. And, dare I say, it helps to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground.

My most recent day was quite a full clinic. I may only have had a fifteen minute lunch due to over-running, and a dilation in the waiting, and yes I did have three letters to write at the end of the day, but I thoroughly enjoyed it all: I had three diabetics, one referral for suspected pituitary adenoma, one accommodative convergent squint and a low vision case. Who says the coalface was dull!

Where else can I have a role that gives such good patient satisfaction, the opportunity to work alongside a number of colleagues from a variety of backgrounds? It is rarely dull. Moreover, it is a role that I do not need to take home with me, nor work all hours into the evening to sustain; each day has a fresh start with little hanging over from the previous. And at 5 o’clock, despite everything that has occurred, good or bad, I leave it all behind - no stress to take home. Furthermore, I don’t need to travel for miles on end to get there. I don’t stay away overnight , and I am still at home in time for tea with the kids.

It seems to me, talking over with friends who are at similar stages in their careers, I think we have it rather good.