(Im)Patiently Waiting

So I'm back to work full time and that means back to having health insurance. First things first, I made an appointment with a new ARNP for a check up and pap smear. Having worked at a doctors office for 5 years I knew it was best to arrive early to fill out the new patient paperwork. Having all my forms filled out didn't help with the wait. Forty five minutes after my scheduled appointment time, the receptionist called me up to discuss my insurance.  I made the appointment two weeks prior, if they had a problem with my insurance they could have called me so we could have discussed it before I'd been waiting over an hour! I was so mad I left. Definitely not going back to that office.

I do not understand how it is acceptable to have patients wait HOURS for their appointments. In what other industry is excessive waiting ok? Did you wait 45 minutes for your barista to make your coffee or your server to ask for your order? I don't think so.

Like I said above, I worked at a doctors office for five years and we, the office staff, were the gatekeepers to making sure appointments fit into their time slots and that people didn't have to wait. If we had a client with an issue or an appointment that ran over we'd call the next patient and give them the option of seeing another provider or rescheduling. I never remember people having to wait more than 15 minutes and even that was rare. It kept our patient happy and coming back for their appointments. I KNOW that running an office where people are not forced to wait longer than their appointment will last is possible.

Now off to find a practice that respects my time and doesn't make me wait in order to fit in a few more appointments into their providers busy days....

Two Year Sentence

So this past semester I was on a break from midwifery school, a much needed break. Like I've said before, midwifery school is not inherently difficult. The classes are not the problem. Being on call 24/7 and driving more than 300 a miles a week can and does get to a person (or it least it got to me). It was nice to be out of school. I did miss my friends but I was able to go back to work full time and it looks like I'm going to be able to keep working next semester when I go back to school. Unfortunately, I won't be rejoining my class- I'll be in the class that's just one semester behind mine. A small class of five. It should be nice.

So I keep going back and forth between midwifery and nursing. This semester I took chemistry at USF, my last pre-req for nursing school while I pondered my options. I've always wanted to do international work as a midwife but the thought of all my student loan debt makes me question that and think about nursing. I finally saw the MSF documentary "Living in Emergency" and it helped to refocus me.

International work as a field midwife is what I want to do. Period. Yes, I think I'll also practice in Florida but I also want to think globally and work with NGO's like MSF or The Hamlin Fistula Hospital. Two years left and I'll graduate. In March I'm going to the DR with three of my classmates and we're trying to plan a trip for next December to go to Senegal. Hopefully we can pepper our last two years with international volunteerism to help the time go by a little faster... one can only hope.