If you’re launching your career as a locum in December, you’ve chosen an opportune time. Clinics and hospitals across New Zealand are notoriously busy over Christmas and the summer holidays, so any extra help and shift coverage are especially welcome. If you’re willing to pack up, travel, and embrace new experiences this holiday season, celebrating Christmas as a locum is a rare opportunity to combine work with a summer break.
What’s So Great About Holiday Locum Work?
A lot of Medical Radiation technologists seek holiday locum work for a variety of reasons. They include but are not limited to those outlined below.
Your Help is Needed
Many Medical Radiation technologists employed in clinics and hospitals take their annual holidays during the summer months. Some travel across the country and even overseas to see friends and family, so they have to take time off from work. Others have young families at home and want to spend more time with them. By covering their shifts, you ensure that patient care at the facility is uninterrupted.
The Money is Great!
If you’re looking to earn extra money, Christmas as a locum can be really rewarding financially. If you don’t celebrate Christmas, or choose to celebrate before or after, covering shifts for those who do can grow your bank balance and help save money for larger goals, such as a dream holiday, paying down any student debt you may have, or making a down payment on a property.
You Get Paid to Travel
Locum radiation professionals are in demand all over New Zealand. Think of a city or region that you’ve always wanted to visit and see if there are contract-based opportunities available. Perhaps you’d like to spend the summer in a coastal community so that you can perfect your tan on the beach during your days off. If you’re more into outdoor activities like hiking or cycling, a contract at an inland clinic or hospital will give you plenty of opportunity to do both. Best of all, you get paid to go there!
You Meet New Friends
Christmas as a locum is a great way to connect with others who are also working during the summer holidays. Joining a new work group not only gives you the opportunity to learn new skills and check out a new department, but you may also find like-minded friends who would love to spend Christmas and Boxing Day with you.
Experience New Work Settings
Medical Radiation technologists work in different types of facilities. If you’ve previously only worked in hospitals, a contact at a remote inland clinic can provide a refreshing -and enlightening- change of pace. You’ll work with different types of patients, experience new routines, and acquire skills you might never have learned otherwise. By the time the holidays are over, your CV will have gotten a major boost.
Celebrating Christmas as a Locum
If you’re celebrating Christmas away from loved ones, you can still recreate the festivity of the season wherever you are in New Zealand. Buy a real or imitation Christmas tree for your accommodation and decorate it using whatever ornaments you prefer. When your shift ends for the day, go for a walk and enjoy the pohutukawa trees in your local parks and forests.
If you’re looking for other things to do as a locum during the summer holidays, we recommend the activities below.
Visit Cape Reinga
If you’re working anywhere near Cape Reinga, be sure to visit the 800-year-old pohutukawa tree perched on the windy clifftop. According to Maori legend, this is where the spirits of the departed start their journey to the traditional homeland of Hawaiki. People visit it every year, so add it to your bucket list if you haven’t seen it already.
Have a Christmas Feast or Hangi
Get together with some friends for a barbecue or beachside picnic. You can divide food responsibilities: you can bring the ham or lamb, someone else can contribute the shrimp and fish (bonus if they bring white bait fritters), and another person can bring the pavlova and side dishes like roast vegetables, kumara potatoes, and salads.
If you or any of your guests have Maori roots, nothing beats a traditional hangi. If your accommodation doesn’t have a backyard, you’ll want to go to the beach or someone else’s house to dig the pit. Since cooking time averages three to four hours, you’ll have extra time to socialize.
Go Caroling With Friends
No Christmas as a locum is complete without an enthusiastic caroling session. We recommend the following traditional favourites:
- Te Haranui
- Christmas in New Zealand
- Sticky Beak the Kiwi
- A Pukeko in a Ponga Tree
Sure, you’ll hear these classics on television and the radio, but enjoying a chorus with a group of friends will make them extra-festive, especially when you’re away from home for Christmas.
Say ‘Meri Kirihimete’!
The New Zealand government has been encouraging more overseas healthcare workers, including Medical Radiation technologists, to augment the workforce in this country. No matter what hospital or clinic you contract with, chances are that you’ll work with doctors, nurses, and technologists from the United States, Canada, the UK, the Philippines, and other countries.
This is your opportunity to introduce them to how we celebrate Christmas here! Since Maori language and culture are an integral part of our society, wish coworkers from abroad a Meri Kirihimete and invite them to share your Christmas feast if they don’t have other plans. If you’re planning to spend December 26 at the seaside, invite them to come along. If enough people join your group, you can enjoy a game of rugby or cricket as well as go for a swim in the ocean.
Ready to Celebrate Christmas as a Locum?
While most of us spend Christmas with loved ones, others embrace the idea of breaking tradition and embracing new experiences during the summer months. If you are a Medical Radiation technologist who’s interested in assuming more control over your career, we would love to hear from you. Contact ProMed HR Solutions by calling 0800776634 or visiting promedhr.co.nz.
