Commentary: The locum tenens ‘itch’ strikes again

“Main Street,” by Sinclair Lewis. [Forget about it! My Main Street is way better than Lewis’s! Women here have the right to vote!]

“Moby-Dick,” by Herman Melville, I read cover-to-cover, for drill, to show Melville I could outlast him, no matter how long he went on.

With spring’s arrival, green leaf-buds burst forth on skeletal oak trees, enveloping the branches in a yellow-green glow that became progressively brighter and brighter as the days grew longer and longer still. Lilacs flooded the scene. Little League tryouts were in progress. Baseballs in gloves snapped. Snow clung to the hilltops, while in the valley, short sleeves prevailed. The clinic hummed.

May 1: The end of my locum tenens contract loomed. I told my patients, “This will probably be our last visit before my time at the clinic comes to an end.” Thirty days and counting.

The patients reacted with shock or indifference: shock, with the fear of changing doctors; indifference, as many had been down this road before.

“Who will be my new doctor?” “Will the new doctor be nice?” “I hope the new doctor won’t change my medicines.”

Others accepted a “waiting list” but worriedly so.

Some had me transfer their medications to their primary care physician (PCP), if the PCP would temporarily “watch over” these medications until the new clinic doctor arrived.

And in a just-before-we-stop flourish, one patient and I explored issues of “standing out and fitting in,” emphasizing the “and.” Indeed, three sessions can be a ton of time.

One person summed it up, “Doctors come, and doctors go.”

June 1: Departure day. Farewell, Main Street. Farewell, Timberton.

At the airport, the plane – No. 1 in line for departure, Reno to San Diego – began its take-off roll down the runway. The roll seemed to go on forever, and I apprehensively considered: “Might we run out of runway? Now Giddyup!”

In San Diego for 3 months, the “locum tenens itch” struck me again. A recruiter called at the right time. Four weeks later, I was in the air to Sacramento.

I drove north past fruit orchards, and nut trees, and rice paddies – wet, and filled to the brim. I wondered what the locum tenens fates might have in store for me this time around – the Lady or the Tiger?

Up ahead, train tracks crossed the road. A train horn howled. I braked to a stop ...

Dr. Kline worked for more than 30 years as a staff psychiatrist for San Diego County Mental Health. He also worked for several years as a locum tenens psychiatric physician.