Working Life: It’s a privilege to support people through life-defining moments
Dr Marie Finn, GP in Ennis.
My day starts with current affairs on the radio. Despite the overwhelming negativity of news, I strongly believe that we need to stay informed to function well in the world.
We have two large dogs and a cat, who believe food is more important to function, so their needs generally come first.
I’m fortunate to live in Ennis town and near my surgery. The day often gets underway with a clinical meeting, which all the doctors attend.
It’s useful for strategic planning, ensuring quality of care, and keeping us up to date on the latest clinical guidelines.
I take a few minutes before consultations to make sure there are no outstanding issues from the day before.
As a general practitioner, my consultations vary widely. It’s an enormous privilege to connect with people and support them through many life-defining moments.
As a trainer on the Midwest training scheme, I teach and mentor younger GPs in all aspects of primary care, particularly the often poorly served areas of women’s health.
This varies from teaching them contraception procedures to screening techniques to participating in my specialist menopause clinics.
We cannot expect our health outcomes to improve if we do not educate and encourage the next generation.
Break from patients to do a radio interview about an important campaign to raise awareness of lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV.
Togetheragainstrsv.ie is an excellent source of information about RSV and how to protect against it.
More consultations. Ennis Centric is a large, busy practice. We teach UHL interns, medical students, non-EU GPs and nursing students, so someone is always looking for help or an opinion.
I attend a strategic meeting about a menopause event taking place in the Glór Ennis building next door.
These local events are essential to broaden the conversations around women’s health.
Home. When my children were younger, I always felt less guilty about my working week if I was home in time to cook, chat and connect.
As a result, I’ve developed a love of cooking and associate it with winding down. Our dogs love this time, too.
