Found this self penned bio (guess that’s just an autobio then) in an old copy of our departmental newsletter from before I took over the reins.My name is Kirsty Jordan, and I am the fairer half of your scheduling team. I have been at Wellington Hospital since I was a medical student last century. I have been a scheduler since Alan Mck gave it up in disgust a few years ago. He keeps telling me that it’s time to pass on the torch as my explanatory emails seem to be full of pent up rage, an allegation I cannot deny. The downside is that then I would be forced to do some real work.
Before I became a scheduler I was on the QA committee (in charge of bringing sticky buns to our meetings), and also was heavily involved in teaching in the simulator, mostly in charge of the crisis management courses (which eventually morphed into EMAC). I even used to be in charge of rostering our inservices, which in my day were an hour long, once a week on a rotating morning.
Clinically my most common lists are general surgery (but nothing too smelly);neurosurgery; and neuroradiology. In private I tend to do plastic surgery for a little light relief although a surprising amount of that is cutting skin cancers out of old people. Still, the food is good. I am the neurosurgery liaison person for the department, which would probably surprise some people (especially the surgeons). I am trying strenuously to avoid being the radiology liaison person. I enjoy scheduling most of the time, partly because it feeds my deep skepticism, but also, it’s actually quite satisfying in a Sudoku sort of way, to try and optimize people’s happiness in their job, at the same time as getting the clinical work done.
I have several methods of commuting, including: an ebike; a hybrid car; a three- wheeled scooter which causes an inexplicable amount of amused derision from passers by; and I even took the bus the other day. Mind you, all these combined probably doesn’t compensate for my husband’s gas guzzling Volvo which he drives out to his GP practice in Johnsonville every day.
We have three teenaged daughters who are very nice but we are looking forward to releasing them into the wild as soon as possible. We also have three dogs, two little schnoodles who are so lovely we still call them “the puppies” at 6 years of age, and one grumpy old lady cairn terrier who “accidentally” urinates on the floor just infrequently enough that she hasn’t yet gone to the great big kennel in the sky.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any hidden talents to fill my abundant free time. I like going on gentle group hikes around the city’s green spaces, and walking the dogs in the botanical gardens which are nearby; I have been trying a taster plate of Romance languages and am currently doing Spanish evening classes; I’ve just given up voice lessons because I could never get to them, and I figure if people don’t like the sound of my singing that’s their problem, not mine; and I go to movies, plays, operas, and musicals. I travel overseas sometimes but not as often as Chris makes out. We also have a place up at Waikanae which is great for bike rides, walking on the beach, swimming, kayaking, paddle boarding, and relaxing with a nice glass of wine and watching the sunset. In fact, I expect that is pretty much my retirement plan.