Winding down...

After having a fantastic couple of weeks off, I’m back at work again. I think I’d gotten to the point where I needed a holiday. Getting out of bed had started to become even more of a chore than normal and I really wasn’t “throwing myself into it” as much as I normally did. Now I feel much more invigorated and am back to being super-keen again.

We junior doctors change jobs on the 6th of August. We move on to new positions, often in new hospitals and this is also the day that the brand new FY1 doctors start their first jobs. Lots of my fellow junior doctors appear to be on a “wind-down,” people are talking about where their next jobs are and what they’ll be doing there. Personally, I’m going to another District General Hospital and I hope to do quite a lot of work on the delivery suite.

Lots of the consultant anaesthetists and consultant surgeons are away on holiday at the moment, so there’s not as much work to do as normal and this adds to the “rest and relaxation” mood among the medical staff. It’s actually quite nice.

Some of the house officers are arranging a hospital ball on Friday, and I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be a chance to get dressed up, a chance to share a drink or three with my colleagues, and also an opportunity to say goodbye.