When you cover a colleague's clinic, you inherit their patients and their treatment plans for a temporary period (days, weeks, or months depending on your assignment length). I think how you handle medical management for their patients should come down to two general principles: change as little as you reasonably need to, and document whatever you do carefully.

When you’re a locum, you don't have the luxury of growing with your staff over several years. Everyone around you, including your MAs, will be new faces. There might be some initial awkwardness, and that’s okay.

EMRs suck. And there are a lot of them. When you start at a new clinic, the EMR is often the most immediate obstacle to your efficiency.