Psych sendoff

I staggered home from the pub and in the barley haze reflected on how lucky I am. I smiled. I’d just spent the last few hours with some people I’ve had the pleasure of working with at Whitchurch Hospital. It was a beersy send-off after our brief working relationship and the conversation was never lacking. Not that I could understand most of what they said, but why start now?

I started at the hospital last November and was very fortunate to get a full time position in spite of the fact that I only intended to be there until now. It was the interviewer’s opinion that people come and go all the time and just because I knew I would be going and when, that shouldn’t preclude me from getting the job. Kool. “Oh, and I have lots of holidays planned. Is that a problem?” Turns out it wasn’t. And that was cool too because everyone here starts a fulltime position with 25 paid holidays plus bank holidays plus weekends. So I stuffed them all into 7 months and got paid while I flew to Tunisia, Amsterdam, Belgium, Egypt, Ireland, Scotland, Spain and France.

But that wasn’t the luckiest part. The best part was being able to work in psychiatry so I didn’t entirely lose my skill set while spending a year abroad. I’m on a leave of absence from my position in Vancouver. I'll be returning there shortly and while there’s a lot of things I do there that I haven’t done in the last year, staying in regular contact and assessing clients with the same illness has been invaluable. I’ve even seen alternatives we haven’t used back home and a gentler, interactive style used with violent clients. I’ve learned lots.

And I had the privilege of working with some outstanding staff who are passionate and dedicated to the work they do. Thank you to all of you for you friendship, guidance and patience (aren't you glad you don't have to repeat everything now?). I’m going to miss you all.

Ta-ra.