Locums life- Kodiak, Alaska

I worked in Kodiak for a week doing clinic, obstetrics, and inpatient medicine. I had the unexpected privilege of supervising a family medicine resident as well who turned out to be a great workout buddy, hiker, and competent physician to boot.

view from the B&B I stayed at

I had never been to Kodiak before, and one of the fun parts of this locums life is getting to see new places! I was on call most of the week but was able to go for a few hikes close to town and explore a little bit. The sun came out most days, which is fairly unusual.

The scenery in Kodiak reminds me of a cross between Juneau and the Aleutian islands. The mountains don't have many trees on them, but there is still a lot of rain and the harbor looks like many towns in Southeast Alaska.

sign at the airport for the rental car- check out the warning on the right

Work in Kodiak was varied, and I had a calm week which made things manageable. I was responsible for all patients admitted to the hospital for the group I was working with, as well as anyone who came in to deliver a baby. I literally had the spectrum of cradle-to-grave that week with a death and a birth, and a bit of everything in between.

I worked in the clinic in between seeing patients at the hospital and took calls from the outlying smaller clinics staffed by mid-levels or community health aides. The system reminded me a lot of Bethel, where you have to decide if someone can come in by private airplane, what time the commercial flights are running, how much medical care can be provided over the phone in the village, and whether someone needs to be sent out to Anchorage, often without being able to see the patient yourself.

view on a hike up the mountain next to town

One of the highlights of my time in Kodiak was getting to see a few of my medical school classmates and catch up after not seeing them for 5 years. It felt like no time had passed, until we talked about their children and realized the little girl who was 3 years old when we started medical school is now a teenager!!

Kodiak- a beautiful town full of adventures to be had.

Locums life- Seward, Alaska

Seward is a beautiful town. Quiet in the winter, busier in the summer with cruise ships and Alaskan tourists here for fishing, kayaking, and hiking. It is famous for a 4th of July running race up a mountain called Mount Marathon and for the Sea Life Center where marine mammals are rehabilitated and showcased.

I'm working at the hospital in the emergency room which also includes a few inpatient beds. I'm the only doctor on during my 24 hour shift, with another doctor on backup call (within 20 minutes of the hospital) to help if needed.

The friendliness of the community, the stunning natural beauty which reminds me of Southeast Alaska, and the supportiveness of the other medical staff help compensate for the stress of being the only physician in the hospital. Sometimes it's nice just to bounce an idea off a colleague, and here I don't have that luxury.

I've worked here now in the winter and in the summer and both are delightful. It is a small town. Each time I am here I see people outside the hospital and have difficulty remembering where I know them from- a patient? a patient's family member? a friend from Anchorage? a staff member from the hospital?

If there is no one in the emergency room, I can walk to my favorite coffee shop down the block and get a latte. I look forward to running after work and have a couple of routes mapped out incorporating trails or waterfront views.  And because it is on the road system, sometimes friends even come visit from Anchorage! 

Locums life- introduction

It is staggering to think of how different my life is now from less than 3 months ago- climate, scenery, hours of daylight, transportation, activities, and occupation. The most common question asked remains "where are you from?" and my answer now is still as confusing as it was before. At least some things stay the same.

This year I'm working as a locum tenens. The phrase is taken from Latin meaning "to hold the place of" and the closest thing I can compare it to for non-medical people is like substitute teaching. Many hospitals in Alaska and rural areas elsewhere need short-term coverage when their physicians are on vacation or while they have a staffing shortage due to inability to recruit full-time doctors. Once you get outside of the largest city (Anchorage) in Alaska, the turn over of physicians in rural practice is high and many places are difficult to move a family to, or to live in full time. This creates a need for people who can fill in those gaps in coverage.

The benefits for hospitals are they don't have to provide me with benefits and they get an Alaskan licensed physician who can cover many different areas in the hospital.

The benefits of locums for me is flexibility- I set my own schedule, variety- I'm working all over the state in hospitals from small to large, and a chance to check out different practice settings before committing to something full time. Each hospital provides me with a place to stay while I am working there, and pays me hourly/per shift.  This does mean I am essentially living out of the back of my car- nothing like regressing to homelessness to keep you humble.

So far I'm signed up for shifts in 5 different towns, all within Alaska, in everything ranging from clinic to emergency to obstetrics to inpatient medicine.  I am on a constant learning curve, but getting to see new places, slowly learn new systems, and have time off to travel, see friends, and get to know my home state again!

Home

Someone asked me this week if Anchorage feels like home. My response was "I don't know where home is anymore." But on further reflection I think that gut reaction was inaccurate and slightly unfair. True, I've felt at home in many places in my life, most recently rural Honduras and before that, Southern California. In that way, I feel I have an abundance of home, "home-full" as a wise woman phrased it. I also feel like I could make myself a home almost anywhere (and very likely will at some point again in the future). 

That way of viewing it, though, underestimates my guttural connection with the Pacific Northwest, and particularly Alaska. My parents are kindly letting me store the majority of my possessions at their house  and keep a bedroom available to me at all times. I am writing their address on every form that asks for my address. That is home. And more broadly, Alaska (including Anchorage, no matter what Alaskans may tell you) feels like home. I feel like I can relax into my own skin here. People are dressed like I dress, topics of conversation are familiar, and choice of recreation is what I remember from growing up.

I didn't realize how out of place I felt in other places until I returned to Alaska. This is home.

Word of the year

One of the groups I follow online encourages you to pick a "word of the year"- either a goal, or an encouragement, or a summary. I thought the whole idea was a little silly, and didn't plan on participating. Today the word that would not let me go is PRAY. Prayer seems to be popping up everywhere in my life- books I read, sermons I hear, etc etc. I want to be more consistent in praying at all times about all things, and see what happens. Here goes.

New Year 2016

1/1/2016- this year is fresh, with no mistakes in it yet.

I'm not much for resolutions, giving their deserved reputation for being temporary aids to lifestyle change. I have been mulling over a few ideas, which boil down to something that sounds resolution-esque.

Life is too short to...read dull books, watch bad movies, or date guys who aren't that into me.

I'll record thoughts here when I feel like it. Hopefully that will be infrequent reflecting full embrace of life and all the experiences I can find.