Docs Outside The Box
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Docs Outside The Box
REPLAY: She's delivered a baby on almost every continent! #309
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Nii brings talks to Dr. Rachael Consoli, an OB/GYN who presently is working in a United States military hospital in South Korea and has the unique distinction of having delivered babies on nearly every continent in the world. Listen in as Nii asks Rachael why she chose to follow this less-than-traveled path in medicine.
Things to expect in this episode:
- Dr. Rachael’s journey from EM residency to OB/GYN
- The challenges and rewards of humanitarian and locums work
- Traveling the world and immersing oneself in the local culture
- Saving for retirement and vetting humanitarian organizations
- Her experience serving the people of Utqiagvik, Alaska, the most northern city in the world
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Locums Lifestyle Introduction
Speaker 1Did you know Locum's Docs make, on average, 33% more than employed docs? Got your attention now. So if you're considering Locum tenants, either full-time or on the side, you probably have a question or two, or maybe even 20. Locumstorycom is packed with unbiased information and tools to see what the trends are in your specialty and even make a decision if locums is right for you. My advice make locumstorycom the go-to place to learn more about locum tenants. That's locumstorycom. All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode of Docs Outside the Box. I have Dr Rachel Consoli, ob-gyn, with a very circuitous path that I think you all are going to be really interested. Dr Rachel, welcome to Docs Outside the Box. How are you doing?
Speaker 2Great Thank you for having me. I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1So if you go to your LinkedIn or if I do my normal internet sleuthing, I can see that you've been all over the world, practicing literally in every continent of the world, I think, except Antarctica, correct?
Speaker 2That is correct.
Speaker 1Right. So right now you are joining us all the way from South Korea, correct?
Speaker 2That's right. That is correct. I'm in South Korea right now correct.
Speaker 1That's right, that is correct. I'm in South Korea right now. It is 6.36 in the morning for me right now. I'm going to get the date too, because I'm sure the date must be different too. It is 6.36, august 22nd. What is the date and time where you are at?
Speaker 2Not so different, but it's 7.36 PM and it is still Monday, august 22nd, for me as well, so 13 hours, wow, wow.
Speaker 1So how long have you been in South Korea and tell us what you are practicing, what you're doing over there.
Speaker 2So I've been in South Korea since May 8th and I've been here in the American Medical Association, the Journal of the American Medical Association, they had an advertisement in the whole page and it said be a hero to our heroes. The Department of Defense needs experienced physicians, specifically OBGYNs, to come and help the military overseas. So I applied and they gave me four choices Italy, Germany, Japan or South Korea. My sister happens to work at Osan Air Force Base, which is the Air Force Base about an hour from where I'm at the Camp Humphreys Army Base, and so I thought I'll go to South Korea and be an hour away from my sister. So I chose to come here. A lot of my friends at the American Medical Association, where I do a lot of volunteer work and I'm on a lot of committees, they really highly suggested that I try this, because they know I love to travel, I love to go to new places, meet new people, see new cultures, and so they said go for it. And I did, and here I am.
Speaker 1Wow, Now how long is this assignment going to be?
Speaker 2So originally was for 12 months. However, they asked me to stay for 36 months, so three years. So in those three years I can either stay here in South Korea or go to another hospital that perhaps has a greater need for an experienced OBGYN. Just to give you an example, the two new OBGYNs that came to our practice are right out of residency. So someone with 27 years being a physician is an asset to them, to the practice and to the hospital, of course.
Speaker 1Wow. So there's a lot of things that you've seen, experience-wise, that they obviously have not seen before. You can tell them. Nah, I wouldn't do that if I were you type of I get it, I get it.
Speaker 2That's exactly right. That's exactly and especially, you know, I've delivered. Before I came to Korea, I had delivered 12,100 babies in my career and so far I've delivered 13 since May 9th when I started, may 8th, may 9th when I started. So we're starting strong and going to finish strong here.
Speaker 1Now what's your daily schedule like? What does Dr Consoli's week look like?
Speaker 2So we have clinic Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm, and then I'm on call about nine to 10 times a month, a 24-hour call, and then also about one to two weekends a month. Now just two new people just came the ones I just said right out of residency, so now we'll just be one weekend a month and eight calls a month. However, up until now it's been nine to 10 calls a month and two weekends a month.
Speaker 1Okay, so when you are on call and when you are practicing, is it extremely similar to the United States? Is it different? Are the local regulations? Health what's the word I want to use the protocols Are they different in South Korea compared to US?
Practicing in South Korea
Speaker 2So this is a very different type of locums that I'm doing here, in the sense that this is an American military base, it's an American army base. So we're doing following ACOG, going by pretty similar protocols that we would do in the United States. However, we do have local nurses. We do have local physicians that we would do in the United States, however, we do have local nurses. We do have local physicians that we work with and you know, gynonc and any of the really subspecialties in OB are certainly local Korean and we have to sometimes refer patients to the local Korean hospitals because we do not have a NICU. However, this is the first time in my life that I've been overseas where we're following American protocols, because everywhere else I've been, we follow the local protocol, the local hospital, and it's very different, extremely different.
Speaker 1Now, in terms of downtime, when you have downtime, what are you doing? I hear South Korea the nightlife is really good. I hear technology is off the chain over there, obviously, Soccer is amazing there. Korean barbecue is amazing there. Tell us about all that stuff.
Speaker 2Sure, so the weekends that I have off usually when I say we, I mean my sister and I and my niece, who's 12 years old we've gone to Seoul. We've gone to see the needle, the high tower in Seoul, and there's museums in Seoul which are very interesting, and you are correct, we actually live what would be considered the countryside here where my army base is, and the local cuisine is outstanding. Korean food is really incredible and you are correct, it is a lot of barbecue, but there's a lot of veggies and a lot of pickled kimchi, et cetera, fermented vegetables, and those are actually spectacular.
Speaker 1I just tried it for the first time, actually, like two weeks ago. I put on some rice. It was amazing. I was like wait, how come nobody put me on on this before? It's really good. Yes, yeah, it is delicious.
Speaker 2It is delicious. I enjoy it immensely. So there's a lot to do. Korea is actually one of the nicest places I've been to. It's different places I've been to, like Mongolia, thailand, I mean in the mountains of Thailand. When you have a day off, it's basically you just have the wonderful opportunity to stay in your countryside village and speak to the local people and learn more about them and their lives, rather than going around. This is actually a treat for me to be here.
Speaker 1So over this you said you're going to. It was initially 12 months. It's going to be about three years now.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 1Are you coming back to the United States in between that time at all? Or this is like you are gone for three years and that is it.
Speaker 2So probably gone for three years and that is it, just like when I was in South Sudan I mean it was one year and a half and the one year and a half I never left South Sudan, even when I was in Mongolia, when I was in Thailand. I usually just stay where I'm at. When I was in Guam for two and a half years, I did travel, did a mission trip with a group of physicians and nurses to Vietnam and to the Philippines. So you know, traveling in Southeast Asia, however, not coming back to United States, wow.
Speaker 1Wow, that's really an interesting perspective that I think a lot of people want to know, Like well, what's the likelihood of me coming back and how am I going to connect? And it's really that's fascinating, your perspective, so I'm really interested. So let's kind of rewind and go backwards a bit. So you went to medical school. Obviously, when you graduated from medical school, you wanted to actually be an ER doc, correct?
Speaker 2That is correct. That is correct. So I like, I'm a very energetic person and I like the energy of the emergency department, right, so people come in and it's exciting, stressful it is, but I love it.
Speaker 1I avoid the ER as much as possible. I'm like let me do my consult and get out of here, so, but go ahead.
Speaker 2No, so I really enjoy that energy. I enjoy like coming through the door, trauma, this that, call this, one, call that one, do this. So I love that and so I did that for many, for actually 10 years, and I did that in many places US Virgin Islands, st Thomas that was fun All over the United States, north Dakota.
Speaker 1So you traveled, you traveled, even doing this.
Speaker 2Yes, yes, right out of residency, even in residency, actually in residency. Twice I did travel trips I went to Belize for three months and then three months, so six months total in residency. I did a huge project for public health there and lived in the rainforest with the Mayan Indians, and it was actually fascinating because I was the only person that was not Mayan in that whole entire community. So that was absolutely so. I've been traveling since I was the only person that was not Mayan in that whole entire community. So that was absolutely so. I've been traveling since I was 10 years old.
Journey from ER to OBGYN Locums
Speaker 2However, I'm on my own as a physician since medical school and, of course, during residency and then after residency, I thought I love to travel. I love to see new things, meet new people, get really be inundated with cases and learning. So I just started doing locums, and actually I did want to say, though I, you know, I do like to stay in the place where I'm at and travel around locally. However, many locums are able to go back to the States for their vacation if they'd like. So that's all that's. That's your prerogative. However, I choose to stay in the area, I choose to travel locally and et cetera.
Speaker 1This episode is brought to you by locumstorycom. Backdrop 2012, finishing my fellowship in Miami and no decision bigger than where and how I was going to start working on my own, and there it was the fork in the road being employed versus something I had never heard of before locum tenants. So I decided to go the locums route and I had a ton of questions. Then I stumbled a bit, but eventually I was able to stand on my own and I have been working locums over the past 10 years. Now what about you? If you're considering locums, you probably have hella questions, just like I did, like who covers my malpractice? Do I really have control over how often I work, and what are the tax implications? Now, lucky for you, locumstorycom has the answers you need. It's packed with unbiased information and advice from docs just like you, and there's nothing to sell here. It's just a simple resource for information, like finding out what's the average pay rate for your specialty. There's even a quiz to see if locums is right for you. So listen, take my advice.
Speaker 1Locumstorycom is the perfect place to start if you want to learn more about locums. That's locumstorycom. So you've been doing locums. I thought maybe you did locums when you finished your Gein residency, but actually you've been doing locums since er even before that obviously, which you're mentioning as a resident and then like so why locums, like? Why like, like? What is it about locums that's so attractive to you? Like, talk, because I know you travel a lot. But talk to us about that because a lot of people they're like I just need to stay at one place and then maybe two, three, three years later I'll go to another place and go from there. Why doesn't that fit for you?
Speaker 2So I have done. I have done locums on longer terms one year, two year, three years. I have done that. I've also done one week, six weeks, like in Kodiak, alaska. I did six weeks, um, as an ER physician. So, um, it just depends on what place, what place presents itself where I want to go. People, friends, networking hey, you'd be great to go to Guam. They need an OBGYN to help the underserved there, the people who have no insurance, and so it's been either presented to me or I choose. I enjoy traveling so quickly or staying longer, depending. I just get bored very easily and I really enjoy that excitement of going someplace new. And the reason why I choose locums, and particularly I usually go with global medical staffing, is just because it's fun. They have fun places. They know my taste, they know I love doing exciting things like being the first OBGYN somewhere, being the first person to help start this project, safe motherhood, decreased maternal mortality rate, and so they know me very well. But even beyond that, it's just an exciting lifestyle. I really enjoy it.
Speaker 1So you know, let me I probably should have explained it a little bit better in the beginning what I meant by staying one to two years. I mean, like at a traditional job, like that. Obviously you have no, you have no interest in that whatsoever. Um is is pretty obvious. Um, so go ahead, please go ahead.
Speaker 2Oh, sorry, I was going to say, although I have like in Boston, I consider um, where I work in Boston, as my home base. So like when I am in between locum jobs or in between travel jobs, I do go back to Boston and work as an OBGYN hospitalist at my hospital. So they know me and but they're so wonderful to me, they let me.
Speaker 1If I say, hey, listen, I really want to go to Guam for two years, they're like, all right, we know you go ahead balance that with because I know like most hospitals are like we got to get staffing right and we need consistent staffing and blah, blah, blah, blah, like their needs off, and I always sell this to residents and I sell this to young physicians. I'm like the needs of a hospital is not necessarily the needs of you, right, and you don't necessarily have to meet their needs. But I'm really interested, like how does all of that work? Like how does that discussion occur that, hey, I'm out for two years, or I'm out for a significant period of time, but I still want to stay on staff? How does that conversation even occur?
Speaker 2Right. So that depends. So like, for example, when I do shorter term, I do stay on staff and then I come back and I do OBGYN hospitalist work. It depends. Especially, even in New England, which used to be the mecca of medicine, which used to have overstaffing of physicians, there is a desperate need for basically any specialty, but especially OBGYN and even ER. So when I come back I ask them do you have any jobs? So they say, well, actually believe it or not, they always have an OBGYN hospitalist job, usually available and open. So I usually take that. However, um, I would be willing to do just about anything.
Speaker 2When I came back just in between traveling now because I came here for a longer term and because I'm actually um with the department of defense, et cetera. So they I did, they did request that I resigned. So no problem. So I resigned and and maybe at the end of three years I'll go back. We'll see, we'll see. I like to keep everything exciting and I know people don't like that, people like stability, but I like things kind of sometimes like a surprise or up in the air, and I mean not now up in the air, but I mean like in the future, and so they're very helpful to me and I feel like I'm helpful to them, because whenever I come back, they're like oh my gosh, we need someone to do. You know, 24 hours Friday, 24 hours Sunday, no problem. So you know I also accommodate them what their needs are as well, as you said.
Benefits of Choosing Locum Work
Speaker 1Now, when you do medical humanitarian work, do you differentiate that from like locum's work?
Speaker 2Oh yes.
Speaker 1Okay, so explain the difference so the audience can understand the difference of that and tell us some of your stories.
Speaker 2Sure. So locum's work is actually very nice. So someone arranges your licensure, arranges privileges, you go someplace. Usually they pay for housing, they pay for traveling and it has a salary right and has insurance et cetera. When I do humanitarian work I usually go with a huge organization. So no salary, no insurance, no retirement plan, and what I do is kind of see how I can arrange. If they can just give me room and board. Usually they say, yes, that room and board is included.
Speaker 2And then for a couple of different organizations I actually had to raise money myself, Like when I went with CM&B to South Sudan to run the Safe Motherhood Program, because at that time they had the highest maternal mortality rate in the world and I went there to run their Safe Motherhood Program and so I just asked for room and board and then they said, well, you need to come up with X amount of money so that we can buy your ticket, et cetera. And I put out the word and everyone came flocking and I made the money to be able to be able to do that year of humanitarian work. So very different economically, very different as far as stability goes and as far as what people are able to do for you. So locums is, in my opinion, compared to some of the things I've done, very stable, whereas humanitarian work can be unstable. When I was in South Sudan, I was there seven months and a war broke out where I was at.
Speaker 1I was going to ask you about it.
Speaker 2Yes, absolutely there was a tribal war and so I had to go hide in the bush for two weeks with the local priest. He said, come, I'll hide you. And I was like okay. So we hid in the bush and they were bringing me people with gunshot wounds, an old lady with a gunshot wound in the hip, and I took out the bullet and cleaned it out and sewed her up and they brought me ladies having babies in the middle of the bush and so I did that for two weeks and then the United Nations actually came and rescued me and they brought me to another village and then I lived with these Italian nuns in this other village who ran like a hospital.
Speaker 2So before you even get to that point, so there was no party. That was like yo, I'm out after this, like when, the year? I mean when I left, that's it, that's it. There's no OBGYN in there. So that lady that had the ruptured ectopic pregnancy that I did a stat laparotomy on baby, of course would have died and she would have eventually died.
Speaker 2So I didn't feel after seven months just because a war. I mean, the people there live with this every day. So why can't I just do it for one year, that's nothing. One year is nothing. And anyways, I'm super protected. I had the UN to come in and take me out. They don't have the UN to come in and take me out. They don't have the UN to come in and take them out. They still were hiding in the bush even after I left. So I went to the other village. So no, no, I mean I, I it's. I mean you have to stay with your people, the people you promised to help. So I feel like it was important for me to stay, even though they moved me out. So that was nice, but I, it was important for me to stay in my mind.
Speaker 1That program that you went to South Sudan for and noticing that infant mortality rates were the highest in the world One. What did you identify to be the major issue with infant mortality and then tell us more about this program so other people can learn about it also?
Speaker 2Sure. So it's maternal mortality, and it was the highest in the world.
Speaker 1Maternal mortality. I'm sorry, I apologize.
Speaker 2Yes, so it was between the year 2015 and 2016. And the reason why and I actually, when I went to South Sudan, I went to the area of South Sudan in a village called Ezo E-Z-O, that's on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic. It's actually called the three country corner city. So because it has the three countries right there, and the reason the maternal mortality was so high, two very simple reasons malaria and HIV. They actually had in that area the highest percentage of HIV in the area, in the whole country, and so HIV mixed with malaria, mixed with no physician, nevermind me being the only OBGYN for a hundred thousand people. I was the only physician for that hundred thousand people in that Azo County. So I mean, that's the reason. That's the reason lack of care, lack of someone just being able to do a C-section, something so simple.
Speaker 1So when you got back to the United States, what is it like seeing your first patient spending a year in that experience and I'm sure, like labs and you know, follow-ups and all these things that we know are so normal run of the mill here obviously is, you know, almost like a luxury over there. Talk to us about when you first get back, what's that experience like?
Speaker 2So when I first get back, I, like I said even before, I've been doing this since I was actually 10 years old, so with my dad, who was a physician, who did a lot of humanitarian work as well. So, coming back, it is a counter cultural shock. Yes, because, but I feel like in the hospital, um, it's not such a shock because I just know in my head to switch. However, like, for example, my first C-section, when I came back to Boston, I was saving suture and they're like Dr Consoli, you're not in South Sudan, you're in Boston, you can use the entire suture. And I was like, oh yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2So what really sometimes overwhelms me, actually when I came back from places like Mongolia, thailand, south Sudan, is when I go, for example, like to a mall and I just see so much consumerism and everyone's walking and talking and, you know, before COVID, just a mall is packed, so that sometimes can be overwhelming.
Humanitarian Work vs Locums
Speaker 2And just to think, like, whoa, this whole store is full of clothes and yet there's people that need these clothes, you know, so that kind of thing. But as far as in the hospital, whoa, this whole store is full of clothes and yet there's people that need these clothes, you know. So that kind of thing. But as far as in the hospital, yes, you are correct, in the countries that I've been to outside of the United States, a lot of times we use our clinical judgment, we use our brains, our hands, everything we have, and we have to think outside the box for sure, like I had to put an NG tube down a pregnant lady who had an obstructive bowel and we didn't have an NG tube, so I used actually IV tubing and then we put a piece of a metal inside of it so it'd be stiffer to go down. So just just those kind of things, those kind of things. So, thinking outside the box and in the United States of course I don't I say I need an NG and a nurse puts an NG.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, exactly yeah. In my experience, you know, even in Ghana, like there's been times where we've had to use, you know, for mesh for inguinal hernia meshes we'd had to use, you know, for mesh for inguinal hernia meshes we'd had to use the, you know, the screens, the window, you know, sterilize that right and it's pliable and it's malleable.
Speaker 1Sometimes we've had to do that. It's very rare, but sometimes we've had to do that. And for NG tubes, sometimes it's a Foley, you know, and definitely for drains. We use Foley's, you know, for drains and so forth. But you do what you got to do and I definitely, I definitely understand your perspective.
Speaker 1So I've had one person on the show before and he was a pediatrician coming right out of residency, went into locums and a lot of the traditional docs that he worked with, a lot of his attendings actually discouraged him from going into locums. And I know there's a lot of old notions. I do locums and I've heard people say oh well, you know, people who do locums can't do A, can't do B, can't work with C, d. Talk to us about those type of notions, because there's a lot of young folks who are listening to the show. I mean, you know attendings who are young or even young residents who are thinking about doing locums and they may be getting discouraged by their attendings because most of the attendings don't know anything about locums so they just bad mouth it. So talk to us about that.
Speaker 2Well, I have to say I only have positive things to say about locums and when my medical students and my residents in Boston or other places in the United States ask me, I say, go for it Now. Usually if you can go someplace, I usually tell them try to go someplace where you're going to get a lot of great experience. So you do want to kind of do locums in the beginning with someone who perhaps is there, who does have a lot of experience, so that when that one in a million cases comes through the door you kind of have someone that says, okay, let's try this and that. And then you kind of have someone that says, okay, let's try this and that. And then you know. So next time when you go to someplace rural and you're the only one you're like, oh, I did that once, so you know.
Speaker 2But I really feel like locums has given me a significant amount of experience that I probably wouldn't have had if I just stayed in Boston just taking care of, you know, the hospital where I feel is my home base, where I grew up partly. But I feel locums helps not only open your mind, but even when you come back to Boston after I've done locums, if I meet someone from a certain village in Haiti, I can say, hey, I went to your village, I did this. Or someone from North Dakota, I can say, oh, I've been to North Dakota, I know, you know, in Minot the saying is why not Minot? Friesen is the reason, and they love it. They start laughing. You know our motto yes, I do so.
Speaker 2It opens you up to be a physician of the world actually, and I feel like in my case, it has given me a lot of great experience. And the beginning, when I did locums for ER, I was sent to ERs where I was it, and then even for OBGYN I was it. And I think that also, as a physician, gives you a certain sense of I have to get things done, I have to resolve because the buck stops with me and I'm it. And then also, it also gives you a sense of later on, when you go someplace else, a sense of, oh okay, I have done this before, so I can do this, I can do this. And I felt for me especially. I have only had great experiences in most of the 99.9% of the time, great experiences and I felt like it really has enhanced me as a physician and as a human, so for me it's only been positive.
Speaker 1Thank you, for I loved your answer. Your answer was great. So for all you young folks listening, there's the answer right there. So let's go into medical volunteerism or volunteeringism, I guess or medical humanitarian work. How do you because I'm sure you've worked with different organizations how do you vet them? How do you know okay, this is a legit organization. I'm going to go and work with them and spend a year or however long, with them.
Speaker 2Yes, that's a very good question, because there are exactly places that I probably would not go and et cetera.
Speaker 2What I usually try to choose is some place that a colleague of mine, whom I trust, has suggested, or someplace I really want to go.
Speaker 2I really wanted to go to South Sudan since I was like 11 years old, so I was trying to look for the correct place so I could go to South Sudan and I just found this wonderful group, cmmb, and I had read a book about this, dr Tom Dooley, who was an orthopedic surgeon who worked with them for many years in Vietnam, and I thought, oh, this is the group Dr Tom Dooley worked with. So I went with them and usually when you do that first interview, et cetera, you kind of know what they're doing, where they're going, and kind of know who is really going to where they're going and and kind of know who's who is really going to be the most helpful and who probably you would probably want to avoid. You can tell that after a while, I would say, but mostly it's just from suggestions from other people or places. I wanted to go in groups that I know have a reputation of being excellent.
Experience in Utkivik, Alaska
Speaker 1So that's the same organization that you had to fundraise for right, Correct? So, just so people know, just because you had to fundraise doesn't mean it was going to be a bad experience. It's just you know, some places just don't have the funds to do. That's correct. So that's a really, really good point. So let's talk about Utkivik. Excuse me, Did I get it right?
Speaker 2Utkivik Did.
Speaker 1I get it right, Ukia Vic. Yes, you did. Yes, you did. I've been practicing it which is the northernmost town in North America. This is in Alaska. I've been doing some research on it. It gets so cold up there that the only excess that you have up there is by plane right, and I guess the sea in that area is frozen most of the time.
Speaker 2That is correct.
Speaker 1It defrosts or allows ships to come through only one time a year. So whatever you need to get from there, that's it. If you can't get it through that time, that's it. Everything else has to be flown out there and a pizza is like 20 bucks. Is that true? That is correct.
Speaker 2That is correct, all of that is correct. So I had the incredible opportunity through locums, through global medical staffing locums. They said, dr Consley, we have something that's going to blow you away. So in Utkivik or Barrow, alaska, which is the most northern point of North America, you got that absolutely, 100% correct. We have an opportunity for you. They need an OBGYN. They've never in the history of Utkivik have had an OBGYN up there stationed, never, never stationed there. They've had some come in and out, but never stationed there. The family medicine physicians who are there would really like someone to come and start from the ground. Just bring an OBGYN, do pap smears, colposcopies, start an OBGYN department. They are going to build an operating room for you so you can do C-sections, dncs, hysterectomies, so, so, so, yeah. So I went there and I have to tell you, though the disappointed by see now this is also so, this is part of locums is that when I got there, everyone was gun ho, we're starting. I saw blueprints for an OR and, unfortunately, covid hit. So everything was put on everything.
Speaker 1So this is very recently. This is two years ago, yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, two years ago. So, um, so it was put on hold. So I, when I was there, though, I thought I am not going to waste this opportunity. So we started preventive medicine programs. We started mammoth cause. I had a mammogram machine. We started mammograms people calling people in for mammograms, for pap smears. There was a lady who hadn't had a follow-up for her high-grade pap smear since 2014. So we had her come in. We, you know, did a yes, yes, we did colposcopies. We did all these incredible things.
Speaker 2So not only did I take care of the 5,000 people in Utkivik I, the 5,000 people in Utkivik, I also was in charge of the other 5,000 people from all the other little villages that come in and fix wing plane just to see a doctor. So, um, so we did that. And then, um, it was a great experience and the family medicine physicians that are there are heroes. They are just heroes because they are so brave and courageous. And, um, I was my pleasure and my honor to work with them there, and they would call me for every delivery and I would be with them there, and also for any emergencies, gyn or otherwise. They would call me in because I was basically on call 24-7, which, for me, I enjoy, it's fun, and so they call me in, but it was quite an experience.
Speaker 2I got to try, for the first time in my life, whale meat, because they go whale hunting, that's their big thing. So up there they have very basic food, naturally Whale meat, seal meat and caribou meat. No vegetables grow there, no fruit grow there Because, as you said, it's permafrost the ground so they can't grow anything. And so I tried all those three meats. Very interesting, um, not anymore. Not any any different than trying scorpions in China or cockroaches on the streets of Lebanon, so not any different than that. However, um, uh, the food was there. I always tell myself if someone can eat this for thousands of years and they're still here, why can't I try it? So I try everything. So, anyways, it was really exciting. The local people were so beautiful to me, so loving, so caring, and people are tough up there because the weather is tough right, so they have to be tough as well, and I was really impressed with their grit and determination. And and I also was really surprised by some of the social problems, issues in Utkivik being so isolated.
Speaker 1However, for me, it was mainly you're mainly working with a Native American population, correct?
Speaker 2Oh, almost solely with the Native American population, correct? Yeah yeah, and so Native American they're. They like to be called Eskimos, because when I would say Native Americans, they're like Native Americans are Native Americans, we're Eskimos.
Speaker 1I'll be like okay, okay, so yes.
Speaker 2Yes, so, but it was a, and their, their tribe is called Inupiaq. The Inupiaq tribe and a very sturdy tribe, very, very tough tribe, and I love them. And those ladies used to just push out babies with not even a Tylenol and they would just I. My eyes would just be like wow, I'm so impressed with you, yep.
Speaker 1Wow, wow. And how long were you there for?
Speaker 2A total of 18 months. Now that's someplace that I was two months there and I would come back for one month to Boston. Two months there, one month back to Boston, cause that's the way they're. They have the plan for their locums to do.
Speaker 1Seasonal affective disorder though.
Speaker 2So they actually got me a special little lamp that I had on my desk and it would burn in my retinas, and so I was, I was okay.
Speaker 1I was okay Cause I was reading like there's like several months where the sun doesn't come up because it's below or it's above the horizon. I forgot how it was, but it's very interesting.
Speaker 2Half of the year, almost half of the year is completely dark and almost half of the year is completely light. Yes, yes, wow.
Speaker 1Wow. Well, look, let me ask you a question, because a lot of people also have a question about finances, right, Like, well, how are you able to get your finances in order You're not employed or you're working as a, you know, when you're a locums like, how do you arrange for your 401k, or do you even have one? How do you, how do you sustain yourself so that you can have long-term you know sustainability, so that when you retire, there's something there for you? How do you arrange your you know finances? So that you can answer that question for them Sure.
Financial Planning for Locum Physicians
Speaker 2So, yes, I do have retirement plans. So, for example, when I was offered a retirement plan in Boston at my job, I said yes, so I have. When I actually some locum jobs actually do give retirement plans, insurance plans, it just depends what you do. So, like in Alaska, they actually have an excellent retirement plan and so I signed up for it. So those 18 months I I banked away my retirement money and different places that I have been. When they offer me a retirement plan, I always say yes and I always put the max in that I can. Um, I save my money. I try not to use my money except for traveling and things that I like to do and I like to see, and so I feel like I'm okay in that aspect.
Speaker 1Yeah, I think for me, you know well, real quick before we the last person we interviewed on the show he was able to get all of his home and housing and things that you would normally spend for it, like that. He doesn't pay for that at all because he'll go from one locum's job to another locum's job and he's like staying in one extended stay in another extended stay. As a matter of fact, when we did the interview you can tell you know he was in an extended stay hotel in one realm. I was like wow, like that's um, that's great, right, like you don't have to worry about rent whatsoever, um, but also, at the same time, that gets tired after a while. But you know it, it, it. Everybody has their own, you know what they like and so forth.
Final Thoughts and Encouragement
Speaker 1Um, cause I think a lot of people oftentimes, when they think about locums and they're not experienced with it or don't know anything about it, you know they think about, you know the negatives that go along with it and I think that you've done a great job of just showing that. First of all, like you said, life, particularly a non-traditional clinical experience, is extremely rewarding. You know, me and my wife are actually considering going overseas for an extended period of time, whether it's in Ghana or possibly maybe in Australia or even New Zealand, because we went there for our honeymoon and we really enjoyed it over there. But obviously someplace in Africa or Ghana where we can get a third world experience and really help out like you said, where you're a doctor for you know, possibly tens of thousands, maybe a hundred thousand people, is an experience that you just can't get anywhere else, but you can really make a huge difference is something that I'm really, really interested in. If there's any like parting thoughts, any parting words that you want to give to the audience, what might that be?
Speaker 2Live your dreams, be courageous, go for it. Jump off that cliff Because you know what? Like you said before, there's going to be a parachute there that's going to just help you and you're going to go paragliding and have a blast. You don't have to do it the rest of your life, you can just do it a few times. But so many people have a desire to travel and do it, just do it, do it, be courageous. That would be my last parting words I love it.
Speaker 1So listen everyone. This is dr r Rachel Consoli. I found all the articles that Global Medical Staffing they use you a lot for their articles, so I got at least four articles here that I'm going to link in the show notes everyone, so that you can read more about her, as well as some of the other dope physicians who are doing great things all over the world and giving these great experiences. Dr Consoli, this was amazing. Thank you very much. Kudos to you for your experience and what you're doing, especially right now, the volunteer work that you're doing in South Korea. Hopefully everything turns out okay and I'll hopefully reach out to you maybe in the future because I might be getting some advice from you, because me and my wife Renee she's OB, she's OB hospitalist also Maybe we might be doing something very similar. So, once again, thank you very much for your time and for what you're doing.
Speaker 2Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure to be with you. Thank you.
Speaker 1Hey guys, thanks again for listening as well as supporting Docs Outside the Box. Listen this show is produced by Darko Media Group and the dope audio experience is edited by the one. The only Christian Parry, also known as your podcast pal, links to him in the show notes. Listen this is Dr Nii, the Doc Outside the Box. I'll catch you on the next one, peace.
