{"id":1262,"date":"2016-03-25T21:08:19","date_gmt":"2016-03-25T20:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/?p=1262"},"modified":"2016-03-01T22:09:18","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T21:09:18","slug":"being-a-consultant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2016\/03\/25\/being-a-consultant\/","title":{"rendered":"Being a Consultant"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BioA colleague recently asked me, because he’d been asked to give a talk, what my top five tips would be regarding being a consultant. \u00a0I thought that crowd-sourcing your talk was a bit cheeky, until I realised that I could spin off a blog post about it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Just to clarify for readers elsewhere, a consultant is the equivalent of an attending in the US.<\/p>\n

So, here were my top five:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Learn how to switch off.\u00a0 Much of your training is done in binary on or off mode.\u00a0 Consultant practice is much more sinusoidal.\u00a0 I dislike the term work\/life balance<\/a>, but you have to ensure that you are not available from time to time.<\/li>\n
  2. Work out how spot when you\u2019re procrastinating.\u00a0 This will be very person specific.\u00a0 For me it will be a set of notes or email which I\u2019ll keep thinking about in 30 second to 2 minute bursts, before putting it to one side to deal with later.\u00a0 \u00a0I still make this mistake after 13 years; on average it takes me about a week to spot. \u00a0If you want to read one thing about procrastination, make it this by Oliver Burkeman<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. <\/u>Work out ways of doing things efficiently.\u00a0 For example, for me, if I’m about to work through some results, do I have a pen, dictation gear, other results programs to hand?\u00a0 If I\u00a0 haven\u2019t, I don\u2019t start \u2013 I\u2019ll do something else instead.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/u><\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
  4. Always, always, always dictate the letter after every patient in clinic.\u00a0 Seriously.\u00a0 Get this sorted \u2013 however stressed you feel about it at the time \u2013 and you will kiss my feet in five years\u2019 time.<\/u><\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
  5. Work out what refreshes you at work, and make sure you include it in your routine.\u00a0 I’m refreshed by:\u00a0 Change (making sure I have a balance of routine patient contact, new clinical and non-clinical challenges, a bit of office time), music and tea.\u00a0 \u00a0After a tough clinical day, I can do an hour of admin and it _almost<\/i>_ feels refreshing if I have music and tea.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There’s an extra, sixth one. \u00a0Work at your work relationships; be generous with your time with your colleagues and remember that if they can’t be mates, then they at least need to be good acquaintances. \u00a0After all, some weeks you’ll see them more than the people you love.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Those are mine. \u00a0What would \u00a0yours be?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A colleague recently asked me, because he’d been asked to give a talk, what my top five tips would be regarding being a consultant. \u00a0I thought that crowd-sourcing your talk was a bit cheeky, until I realised that I could spin off a blog post about it. […]<\/p>\n

    Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2681],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-practice-of-medicine"],"yoast_head":"\nBeing a Consultant - ADC Online Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2016\/03\/25\/being-a-consultant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Being a Consultant - ADC Online Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A colleague recently asked me, because he’d been asked to give a talk, what my top five tips would be regarding being a consultant. \u00a0I thought that crowd-sourcing your talk was a bit cheeky, until I realised that I could spin off a blog post about it. 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