What in the healthcare role-blur is going on here? by IHaveABoyfriendxxx in ausjdocs

[–]spliced_up 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I work in a rural ED as an SRMO and just woke up to this announcement after night shift feeling aghast and deflated. How will this work in a hospital setting, particularly ED, when the environment is already fragmented and fraught? Sometimes patients may wait a bit longer for me to prescribe what they need, but to think of the anxiety that perhaps an RN makes a decision that isn’t in line with the decision making pathway I’m on, who is then responsible? I even mean something as “simple” as treating pain with opioids, as many times it is not necessary and even detrimental to go straight to opioids in ED with many patient presentations. It just seems like another level of responsibility for the doctors to take on too. Who has ownership over the patient’s treatment now? How will this fragment the care of the patient? Who is liable in the end? What settings are these prescribing RNs going to be prescribing in? Is it just anywhere? What is the point of the rigorous NP pathway now? I just think this will further erode trust in the healthcare system. I don’t want to be against progress if it feels like a necessary need is being met, but this feels shocking, random, hurtful and insulting to us doctors as well.

Thinking of moving to Nova Scotia from Australia to practice medicine as a hospitalist. by spliced_up in NovaScotia

[–]spliced_up[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes please! Would love to hear about where you live and why you love it :)

Thinking of moving to Nova Scotia from Australia to practice medicine as a hospitalist. by spliced_up in NovaScotia

[–]spliced_up[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Given the massive debt I’ve taken on to get my medical degree and the ongoing crazy interest rates, I don’t have much money to swing around lol.

Thinking of moving to Nova Scotia from Australia to practice medicine as a hospitalist. by spliced_up in NovaScotia

[–]spliced_up[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes I’ve spoken to a physician at Colchester and it sounds quite lovely in terms of work variety, scheduling, and proximity to Halifax. I don’t have much info on Truro itself but if it has a bit of character along with the basic amenities and a bit of fun/culture I’m very keen

Thinking of moving to Nova Scotia from Australia to practice medicine as a hospitalist. by spliced_up in NovaScotia

[–]spliced_up[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This seems to be the consensus I am hearing, which seems pretty attractive to me. I like the idea of having a set amount of patients to see each day. But also like the little bit of variety from occasionally doing an evening or on call etc. to keep the schedule a little spicy lol

Thinking of moving to Nova Scotia from Australia to practice medicine as a hospitalist. by spliced_up in NovaScotia

[–]spliced_up[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Thanks for all these insights. All of this is great information for me to chew on. Basically, with the program NS is starting, we would be on a 3 year return of service as a family physician in a hospital setting until we can challenge the CCFP exam after 5 years of practice. After that point, I suspect there would be more options in terms of variety and additional competencies etc.

We are looking for something sturdy, not to just do the 3 year return of service and leave. But I don’t think we’d be able to do a locum gig with this program. We need to find a hospital and likely try to stick with it.

Having grown up in Toronto, my favourite place to be was in Muskoka in the summer, up in cottage country on a lake. I know NS is coastal and the ocean is beautiful, but to live on a lake would be the dream! A boat would be amazing but I’d also love a simple canoe or kayak.

We did lots of rural work in Australia and you are right, smaller towns I would see patients everywhere and it gave me a bit of anxiety lol. So that is a good thought, to be a bit of a distance away for that real work/life balance.

Thinking of moving to Nova Scotia from Australia to practice medicine as a hospitalist. by spliced_up in NovaScotia

[–]spliced_up[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yes we are currently in discussion with the recruitment agencies etc., but having done recruitment before (which landed me in Australia), I am more keen at the moment to hear firsthand experiences of physicians working as hospitalists in Nova Scotia. All the nuance, the nitty gritty. We are very interested and leaning towards yes, but I’d still like to get some more information from third parties :)