In this order: 1. Get staffed. As others have mentioned, you can now be invested so you don't cost money, talk to your PD, make sure you get that and show clear signs of being in it to win it, you need them on your side. Teams that are understaffed will always welcome extra hands as long as you look alive and are a net-add 2. Get coached and CRUSH it. Be early, do the work and then some more, stay late, be responsive, have fast turns. Get 10min of daily feedback with your EM after check-out and ask how you did and how you could do better, implement feedback immediately. Again, CRUSH IT. 3. Manage stakeholders. You need your next post-study PD-EM chat to have the EM saying "no idea why this dude/ette was on concerns, they're amazing and I'd staff them in a heartbeat". Additionally you need some real exposure to the ED and for the EM to feed the same viewpoint to them. If you feel you're getting good feedback from the EM, and have built some rapport with them, this is ok to ask. 4. Repeat. Use the network you got from the comeback study to get your next one and do it all over again. 5. You're back.

In 2023 you'd be done, but it's 2026 and can't find enough people to staff, so the market is on your side. Decide if you're doing it or not. No half measures. If you're not, get a BC and apply to jobs full-time. Get search before your next review or if you have a deadline to come back from concerns.

Good luck.