Day one as a locum optometrist: “The main thing is to try and be part of the team”

Here, three locums tell OT about their first day on the job – and what they have learnt in the months or years since.

Francesca Marchetti: locuming after starting a family

“On my first day of locuming, I was absolutely terrified. I had been in the comfort of a large multiple, and I had stopped work to have my eldest child, and then decided that I didn’t want to go back to the big corporate role because they couldn’t offer me any flexibility. That’s why I decided to be a locum.

“Consequently, I went to work for another practice with a completely different system and a completely different pricing structure, and I was absolutely terrified.

“But it does make you adaptable. It does make you flexible, and I think the main thing is to try and be part of the team.”

I made a number of mistakes on my first locum day. One of them was not knowing where the local eye casualty was and how to refer the patients on

Dipesh Patel: locuming whilst building an optometry practice from scratch

“I remember the biggest thing was simply getting used to being in an unfamiliar environment. Even with years of experience as an optometrist, every practice works slightly differently, from the systems they use to how the day is structured.

“You quickly realise that the clinical side is the part you already know – it’s adapting to a new team and a different way of working that takes a little more time.

“I was definitely a little nervous. I think that is completely normal when you’re walking into a new practice, where you don’t know the team or exactly how they operate.

“Once I’d seen the first few patients and settled into the day, those nerves disappeared quite quickly. I’ve generally found that practices want their locums to have a good day and will help you settle in, because ultimately everyone wants the day to run smoothly.”

Read more from Dipesh

Opening an independent optometry practice from scratch

Optometrist Dipesh Patel on opening ClearChoice Opticians

Raina Malik: locuming after working as a resident

“You never forget your first day doing something — your first day at university, at work… and definitely not your first day as a locum.

“I was petrified – being exposed to so many new variables was scary. Even though I had been strategic about my first locum day, I was very scared. I deliberately booked with a large multiple I was a resident at. I had never worked in that particular practice, so the team, the room and the equipment were all new — but at least I knew the patient record system. That little bit of familiarity made a huge difference.

“On my first day, I did what I always do. I arrived early. I waited for someone to open the practice, introduced myself as the locum for the day, and was shown to my testing room. Those 20 or 30 precious minutes gave me time to familiarise myself with the room, equipment, pre-screen area and fields machine, understand how the practice liked to run its clinics, and find out who my point of contact was if I needed help.

“Because I was already confident using the patient record system, I could build from there. Without realising it, I was using a kind of confidence-stacking process — starting with one familiar thing, then adding another, then another. I still do exactly the same thing every time I walk into a new practice, and it makes such a difference.

“I made a number of mistakes on my first locum day. One of them was not knowing where the local eye casualty was and how to refer the patients on — whether I had to call ahead or whether I could simply send a patient there.

“The other mistake I made was that I was so busy testing that I didn’t even check when my lunch break was and worked through most of it.”