Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Sylvia Wilson — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 17:04:45 GMT

[quote user="CatherineThomas"]

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]

Why should it always be the veterinary half of the partnership who has to fit in with the other?

Wynne

[/quote]

Surely that depends on the couple and their career choices and individual circumstances. No one is saying that one career is more important than another. My husband works in a nuclear power station, as there are only 8 nuclear power stations in the country it does limit where we can choose to live and work. I can't expect him to change his career if I find a job in a part of the country that doesn't have a power station. Being in a committed relationship means that you have to consider your partner in those kind of decisions.

[/quote]

Strangely enough, my husband works in the nuclear industry as well. It was one of the factors in my decision to leave practice and join MAFF (as it was then). I was able to move round the country with his career, each time getting an internal transfer. I was happy to move with his career as the ONLY way for him to progress was to move, even though for most of our careers I have earned more than him

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 16:29:06 GMT

[quote user="mariette asselbergs"]

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]

In a partnership do both partners have to have paid employment?

Cold logic suggests the partner with the higher earning power has priority for employment.. Or partners might agree that the partner with the better future prospects, or even the one with the better job satisfaction or the one likely to bring the greater happiness, might have priority for a while.

[/quote]

Sorry Evelyn this is obviously very unsound advise for a new graduate. f they do not work as a vet for some years after graduating they will very quickly lose their skills and their confidence. And never work as a vet afterwards.

Mariette

[/quote]

It wasn't particularly meant as advice, Mariette. What you say is quite true and would be another consideration when partners are thinking how to divide their responsibilities.

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

mariette asselbergs — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 15:48:27 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]

In a partnership do both partners have to have paid employment?

[/quote]

Mariette

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

CatherineThomas — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 15:16:45 GMT

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]

Why should it always be the veterinary half of the partnership who has to fit in with the other?

Wynne

[/quote]

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 15:08:19 GMT

In a partnership do both partners have to have paid employment?

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Mark Hedberg — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 15:00:06 GMT

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]

Why should it always be the veterinary half of the partnership who has to fit in with the other?

Wynne

[/quote]

It isn't - my teacher wife has moved with me over several countries. She's been remarkably patient and I'm frankly luckier than I deserve :)

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Anthony Dennison — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 14:07:41 GMT

Not sure why I've been red starred for this, just giving an alternate point of view.

To add to the story, by the time I graduated I had been with my girlfriend for 3 years. She was at Liverpool, I Bristol. We'd done the whole long distance thing and were now looking to spend more time with each other. Yes, if there were no jobs around where we could have feasibly lived together, I would have found somewhere a little closer than the 3-4 hours distance we had been coping with. I said I was very lucky to find my current job, I'm not saying I want to be joined at the hip with the other half!

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Claire Fisher — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 13:49:52 GMT

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]

Why should it always be the veterinary half of the partnership who has to fit in with the other?

Wynne

[/quote]

They could both be vets - one of the vets I work with is married to an equine vet - to begin with he worked in Cornwall and she was in Liverpool until he found a job near here and they could live together.

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Nicola Cole — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 13:16:18 GMT

I'm sure most people in long term relationships would like to be with their partner. But sometimes its beneficial to take a job further afield initially to get the relevant experience to make you more employable in your chosen geographical location (as Mark mentioned)-a lot of people could live apart for a period of time and commute to partner at weekends (when not on call!) if a job was not available on their doorstep. I spent my first year in practice 4 hours drive from my partner and gained lots of valuable experience.

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Hannah Wynne Richards — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 13:11:42 GMT

Why should it always be the veterinary half of the partnership who has to fit in with the other?

Wynne

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Anthony Dennison — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 12:55:49 GMT

[quote user="Neal Palk"] When you're young and single, that's the easiest time to be professionally mobile!![/quote]

This is true, but at least 1/3-1/2 of my year were in long term relationships at graduation, some even married! It's a lot harder to find a good job for both you and the other half when there's 2 people to consider.

I was very fortunate in getting a job where I have. My girlfriend had already been working a year and we had an opportunity to buy a house rather than rent long term, meaning I had a limited geographical area to apply for jobs without having to commute long distances.

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Mark Hedberg — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 20:26:56 GMT

"professionally mobile" doesn't always mean locum - it can also mean 'willing to move town or county for a job for a year to get the experience you need' after which time you've got more options.

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

mariette asselbergs — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 17:15:55 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]

[quote user="Neal Palk"]When you're young and single, that's the easiest time to be professionally mobile!![/quote]

By gum that's true!

[/quote]

Its true, but those are not the most experienced vets, so not the most valuable flexibly usable locums from the point of view of the employer.

Mariette

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 18:33:09 GMT

[quote user="Neal Palk"]When you're young and single, that's the easiest time to be professionally mobile!![/quote]

By gum that's true!

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Neal Palk — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 17:29:16 GMT

[quote user="Liz white"]To be fair, Neal, I think for a new graduate it is great if you can have ready made friends/family close(ish) by so you can let off steam with people you can relax with., rather than those you have to work with.

[/quote]

Yes - to an extent, but then for many new grads to whinge about a lack of opportunity when the available jobs might be in (say) Scotland, North East etc is a bit rich? When you're young and single, that's the easiest time to be professionally mobile!!

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Liz w — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 17:04:26 GMT

To be fair, Neal, I think for a new graduate it is great if you can have ready made friends/family close(ish) by so you can let off steam with people you can relax with., rather than those you have to work with.

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Neal Palk — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 10:57:56 GMT

Are there issues of geography at play perhaps? The folk who post on here seeking roles seem to be VERY limited in their ability to travel more than a few miles from home and a disproportionately large number seem to be in/around the home counties? I recall seeing a recent grad looking for SAH.......but only if she could continue to live at home with Mummy & Daddy? Labour mobility perhaps?

Also, having hired all sorts of functions over the years, what hiring people/companies say/think are generic skills.......sometimes aren't and it's a diffcult conversation to explain (metaphorically!) that a candidate mimimum age of 90 but with both Grandparents still alive might be a tough one to resource.....

Edit: Case in point re mobility!! Two of the smaller counties in England!

http://www.vetsurgeon.org/blogs/veterinary-situations-wanted/archive/2012/02/06/recent-graduate-looking-for-permanent-job-in-herts-beds.aspx

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Cat Henstridge — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 21:52:27 GMT

I just got offered a maternity cover locum on FaceBook! Can't do it unfortunately but it isn't the first time I have been contacted on there!

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Hanna Bennett — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 19:24:06 GMT

glad it isn't just us with the locum thing - all well and good saying that you should book in advance but unfortunately we've a vet on long term sick and unsurprisingly he didn't give us lots of notice! So far he's been off for five weeks and we've managed to have locum cover for one of those weeks. the locum agencies are infuriating - we had one booked then she 'injured' herself' and then another decided we were too far away (we are within striking distance of the M1, A1 and M18 and are pretty central given that lots of national distribution centres are within our area). The one locum we did get was rubbish, far below par for a hospital practice. Really hoping that the bloke we have booked for the next two weeks is half decent...

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Braden Collins — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 01:21:56 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]

[quote user="Braden Collins"]8 years of pom bashing has certainly come back to haunt me. The other thing that might be contributing is that vets are no longer in short supply in the uk according to the immigration list so we can no longer qualify for the highly skilled migrant visa.[/quote]

I guess you'll just have to keep your leg irons on then!

[/quote] We may have our leg irons, you've got the EU...........(winking smiley is meant to be here but can't seem to do on ipad) I may not post for a few weeks depending on the results of today's match.

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Hannah Wynne Richards — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 12:01:35 GMT

We won the 1st test with a team which was Welsh with a few others

Wynne

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 15:44:14 GMT

I guess you'll just have to keep your leg irons on then!

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Rob Reid — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 08:23:34 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"] come to think of it Wiggo is half Aussie [/quote]

He's not very British at all actually, seeing as he was also born in Belgium....

I also wouldn't be counting my chickens with the Lions either - still 2 tests to come. Of course it does help that the Aussies haven't picked their best fly-half (who is actually a Kiwi and has a cousin who plays for the Lions!)

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Braden Collins — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 03:11:18 GMT

8 years of pom bashing has certainly come back to haunt me. The other thing that might be contributing is that vets are no longer in short supply in the uk according to the immigration list so we can no longer qualify for the highly skilled migrant visa.

Re: Where have all the locum's gone? Far, far away?

Anthony Dennison — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 14:38:50 GMT

If you or one of your staff members has a facebook account and is 'friends' with other vets across the country, putting a plea out on facebook can sometimes be quite profitable (we had a couple of people putting their name into the hat after I did a similar thing), even if it is short term contract rather than locum.