A week in the life of a paediatrician
Monday 10th March
Hello I’m Dr Salim &I am a paediatrician with several roles. As well as joining me this week you can find me at @salim_sns @HYouthVoice
Half the time I am a hospital paediatrician at Raigmore hospital doing ward rounds, on calls and outpatient clinics,
The other half I am a community paediatrician covering the beautiful area of Skye- I travel there twice a month to run clinics.
This morning a slow start in my office checking correspondence, verifying letters and checking mountains of emails...
Then off to the Black Isle to child’s plan meeting at a school, on a lovely sunny day, but no chance of seeing dolphins!
The meeting was very constructive...back to my base at Morven house.
Just in time for our monthly clinical governance & community staff meeting
Starts with an inspiring talk about reducing waste in the work place adopting the Highland Quality Approach
At 17:00 off to the children’s ward, I am on call tonight. Took handover from the day team, the ward is full to the brim.
Tuesday
Last night took me few hours to troubleshoot clinical problems, and to plan ahead beds and cubicles for the night with the nurse in charge
Ultimately, all went smoothly.
This is what we call an admin day
Inspired by the reducing waste presentation yesterday, decided to de-clutter my office....already feeling better
Prepared for my community clinic tomorrow in Skye - getting notes and reading them...
In the mix today, went to our recently set up Xray meeting on the ward.
A great chance to discuss difficult Xrays, scans and to share information.
Wednesday
07:50, in car, 3 hours journey to Portree in Skye. I am blessed with a sunny weather & the scenery is unbelievably eye-catching...
Arrived 10:45, just in time to start clinic at 11:00.
Today we’ve a full attendance rate making the long journey worth it.
The clinic is a mixture of children with cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome& autism.
My role involves a significant amount of multidisciplinary working with schools, speech therapists, health visitors.....etc
Midway, the speech therapist joined me to discuss shared cases, truly helpful feedback
I usually stay overnight to do another full day clinic tomorrow, but not today!
17:00 after some dictation of letter, back to Inverness.Expect to be home by around 20.00, a long, tiring day but very satisfying.
Thursday/Friday
A very early start today, on train at 06:40, off to Dunblane...
For the next 2 days I’m going to the Scottish Paediatric Safety Programme Conference, sorry...a mouthful.
This is another role of my job, I am recently clinically responsible for safety issues in my department.
This conference is a great way of sharing safety improvements from all boards across Scotland
2 train changes to get to Dunblane from Inverness, luckily had a medical book with me.
I know, boring, but I am recertifying my neonatal resuscitation skills in a couple of weeks and this is my best chance to do the reading.
And I incidentally landed with few of our neonatal nurses in the same carriageway...
We arrived a wee bit late, but in time for 2 days full of inspiring and moving talks from parents,leaders and frontline staff
SPSP is a truly international safety brand-
Equipped with lots of ideas, I’ll be on a train back to Inverness (no changes this time) tomorrow. Home for a quiet weekend with the family
It’s @salim_sns if you want to continue to follow me. Enjoyed my week, thank you.
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