Locum Tenens

"Locum tenens" is the term that medical people use to refer to temp work. 

Similar to temp work, you don't necessarily know what you're getting into when you agree to work somewhere for a day here or a day there. 

I had been looking into doing some locum tenens work for a while and finally had my first assignment today, at a family practice on the other side of town. 

I was so nervous about it that I literally almost cried when Daniel dropped me off.  If I had been asked to enumerate exactly what terrified me, I'm not sure I could have said...

But if I gave it some serious thought, here would be the fear:  that I would encounter a patient with some combination of problems previously unimagined and wholly impossible for me to deal with.  Something like... a self-pay, drug-seeking diabetic 90-year old with pneumonia, dementia, and blood sugars poorly controlled by insulin.  AND that the supervising physician would be mean to me and would tell me I wasn't going fast enough.

But it went fine today.  No drama.  No impossible patients. And the supervising physician was quite nice. 

And a special bonus: my otoscope, which I had forgotten to charge and which I haven't used in 2 months and was sure would be dead... worked fine!  Like a special gift from God. 

I'm not sure how much sense this post will make to those outside the medical field.  But I am so relieved and thankful that God has once again been gracious to my unfaithful self - that I wanted to share about it.