Multitasking

See: I'm already making no effort with my pics (the one above is the first that comes up on a Google image search for 'multitasking').

Crap, isn't it?

Anyway, this year, now that I'm a bit settled / stuck in a rut, and what with the economy improving and all, I've started to take on a bit of work based on my previous experience. A bit of cash will be nice and it makes me feel like a grown up again. I've snagged a chunk of research work as a visiting fellow in the local university and am working with a professional services firm (as it were) to help out with a few management consulting projects in the CBD. Not sure whether this work will detract from my strict flash card-based exam technique, but so far I've gone well enough and frankly I quite like having a CV without a four / five year medical school-shaped gap in it.

I've also had conversations regarding going back to the bench for some wet science. I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand, it would be nice to maintain a bit of momentum on the (hard) science side: may help my clinical career although I have published ok over the years so I'm not sure what that would prove. On the other, it was my dislike for bench science (or rather, the crap career structure surrounding bench science) that led me to leave altogether ten or more years ago.

The clincher may be how much time I can spare. There's also a financial consideration of what is the best use of time plus the fact that I would like to use this highly unusual career break to see as much of my family as possible.

We'll see... perhaps the two small roles are fine as they stand.

Good news!

Here is the first bit of good news on the employment prospect front that I've seen for a long time.

"The number of empty jobs was measured on March 31 this year. Among hospital doctors and dentists, excluding trainees, the vacancy rate was 5.2 per cent, compared with 3.6 per cent in the same month last year. The long-term vacancy rates for this group jumped two thirds from 0.9 per cent to 1.5 per cent. Vacancy rates for GPs increased only slightly from 1.6 per cent to 1.9 per cent. "

Seems that there is a doctor shortage (again) in the UK. Workforce planning has always been a nightmare, particularly with changes to people's preferred working patterns (flexible, part time), the legal landscape (European Working Time Directive, other stuff here in Australia), the sex balance of the workforce (more women, more demand for part time work), etc.

Your big chance to work in a hopsital like the one above.

Despite training a lot more doctors, it looks like the effects of these reductions in productive hours per MBBS plus the attractiveness of the NHS pensions plus the generally admitted "it's not like it used to be" horribleness of the NHS working experience has accelerated the departure of older medics from the profession. Sounds like restriction on non-EU staff are also having an effect.

Given that Australia has a similar set of demographic and work practice changes imminent, it will be interesting to see whether we experience a similar effect here. IMO, given that many medics here retire self-funded, and given the hammering that asset values has taken in the last 12-18 months (esp. sthare and property), I envisage a hiatus in the rush for retirement of senior staff until the economy has picked up a bit.