Thread by @TessaRDavis

I’ve been in a PEM locum consultant post for 15m. It’s a tough transition from senior reg to junior consultant that brings its own challenges.

Now, on the day of a big interview for me, it’s time for some reflection on my key learning points so far ....a thread 👇

Your learning isn’t over as consultant, it’s just beginning.

Read read read to keep up to date with best practice. Use the expertise around you to deliver better care. There’s no shame in asking for help. It will demonstrate strength (not weakness) to your colleagues. 1/10

Be kind to your colleagues - juniors, seniors, porters, admin.

Incivility destroys teams and care.

Deliver your best self at work and take a break if you feel you aren’t behaving as you should. 2/10

Make sure you’re open to being questioned by your team, if they don’t feel they can speak up you will never be able to improve and correct mistakes. 3/10

Tell your colleagues you value them. A thank you, a kind email, a note, or even a whatsapp to show you recognise your team’s contribution makes all the difference. 4/10

Don’t message/email your juniors mysteriously to ask them to catch up with you - they automatically assume they’ve done something terrible and are about to lose their GMC registration. Give them a heads up re what it’s about. 5/10

Try to choose projects that will benefit your workplace, not just projects that you like. Spend time thinking about what matters to the department and what difference a project will make. That will endure buy-in from everyone. 6/10

Learn to take the knocks. No matter how good you think you are, medicine has a habit of waiting till your confidence peaks and delivering a blow. Mistakes happen, your colleagues are they to support and discuss. Be open and create a environment where people can share. 7/10

Learn to deliver feedback (negative as well as positive). You need to be able to give honest feedback to your trainees so that the supervision process actually helps them evolve and develop as clinicians. But deliver it with thought and sensitivity. 8/10

Look for the skills in your team members and choose projects with them that bring out their strengths. They might be in a range of roles and departments. The best projects aren’t the ones with the best ideas, but the ones with the best teams (as I know from @DFTBubbles). 9/10

Have some colleagues you can rely on when things are challenging. You need people who have shared professional experiences, who can understand, and who can lend a sympathetic ear when needed. (Ping @andrewjtagg @henrygoldstein @paedsem @DobbieAnna @alwaddington) 10/10