Some employers may consider a hygienic, immaculate and orderly workplace as only a requirement by law, or merely to be ethical. But it is also a human right. If your work place is threatening to your health, the employer can be prosecuted in courts. Therefore not only to escape the law, but to make a place of employment a heart-warming adobe to anyone, it is a must to follow the guidelines for a cleaner and tidier place. Did you just get employed as the town doctor? Is it your first appointment? After several years of labour in a university and going through heavy medical literature you are finally getting the opportunity to realize your dream of helping thousands of others with your healing touch. There maybe things that you don’t know, or may overlook in your novice status.
Choice of venue and basic principles
You are appointed to a small town as the former doctor has left or was transferred to another place. Therefore the hospital he or she worked from and the staff must be there to help you with settling down. When you start work, you must make sure the staff is welcoming, the place is approachable and completely sterile. Even if it is a small city make sure there is a proper clinical waste management system in place. Things as such get overlooked but are nonetheless very important; you must ensure there are none that can cause an issue in the future as medical aid can be a matter of life and death to a person.
Your responsibility
It is a service that you do to small town folks when you agree to work at a relatively rural set up, being lots of things at once; doctors of small towns frequently have to act in more than a few capacities – as the local general practitioner or GP, a visiting medical officer or VMO for the hospital and the after-hours responder. It is indeed a huge service you render to the public with no additional backing or return; but you must remember the number of people who rely on you are much higher. A semi-urban or rural community may also have a higher number of elders or senior citizens. Hence it is a place where more medical experts are deserved, not less. You can also support them by help training staff in the capacities of nurses or minor workers.
Maintain good relationships
Again, as a small city person you will face a situation where all residents are known to each other. So suppliers of the hospital can be friends or relatives of staff. They could be supplying healthy food to the hospital, work the ambulance service, or engaged in proper medical waste disposal ; if they are aware of what must be done and as long as it is appropriately done, this can’t be an issue. You should anyway maintain good relationships with everyone including city officials, officers of law and order, suppliers and the general public. There is and always will be a shortage of medical experts in rural areas as many prefer to live and work in the big cities. But you took an oath claiming your commitment to the profession, patients and humanity. It is now time to honour that and prove yourself to the world. Once you are settled down and won the hearts of the townspeople, small as it may be, you won’t be thinking to leave.