Between one year and forever

“Somewhere between one year and forever” It’s been my standard reponse whenever anyone has asked me how long I plan to stay in Canada. It’s typically accompanied by a non-committal shrug of the shoulders and a look that says don’t ask me hard questions. I recently celebrated that one year milestone with a steep hike … Continue reading →

How are you going?…Really?

I’d been living in Canada for about 4 months before I realised that “how are you going?” is a funny, Australian thing to ask. Further enquiry with colleagues and patients revealed that “how’s it going?” or “how are you doing?” are perfectly acceptable. But the hybrid “how are you going?”… Nope. That’s just weird, apparently. … Continue reading →

The life saving heroes of medicine

I saved a life today! Although… I don’t know who it was or how I did it. Maybe it was the routine pap smear that will come back as a high-grade precancerous lesion and be surgically removed before it turns nasty. Maybe it was the pertussis vaccination I gave to a pregnant patient that will … Continue reading →

Getting my feminist FIX in New York

There was something distinctly different about #FIX18. Walking in to a conference with 95% women felt pretty odd. I was intimidated amongst so many high-heeled, urbanite, overwhelmingly American emergency physicians. This Aussie country GP felt somewhat out of place. It was quite the contrast from the laid back gatherings of my other recent conference experiences. Maybe … Continue reading →

The familiar faces of strangers

Have you ever noticed that thing, when you’re travelling, where you unexpectedly see someone you know out of the corner of your eye? Except you don’t. On second glance you realise you don’t know them at all. They are a complete stranger. This happened to me constantly when I first moved to Canada. My first … Continue reading →

The expat’s arrival checklist

I love a good checklist. I love the sense of order that comes with writing the list, and the feeling of achievement of ticking all those little boxes. Sometimes, I even list things that I’ve already done, just to feel the rush of ticking them off immediately. Since arriving in Canada, I’ve been diligently ticking … Continue reading →

Hello-bonjour, Canada!

It’s my own fault, really. I did say that I wanted a challenge. My Canadian adventure certainly began that way with a missed connection and re-route via Calgary; A four-flight 32 hour journey of epic proportions. To top it off, my luggage was lost in transit. I had arrived in my new country with just … Continue reading →

Farewell, Broome.

Dear Broome, It would feel unfinished, I think, to move on to one adventure without properly farewelling the last. And yeah yeah, I know…. My departure has had as many comebacks as a John Farnham farewell tour. But this time I’ve really gone for good. I remember when we first met. I was absolutely blown … Continue reading →

If you could go anywhere….?

Where would you go? If you could go anywhere, live anywhere, work anywhere, where would it be? Imagine you had no family obligations, no partner to consider, no more exams or training hoops to jump through. Just yourself and a suitcase…. where would you choose? After finishing my rural bonded time, I found myself able … Continue reading →

We GPDU’d. Did you?

GPs Down Under, as an entity, is kind of a hard thing to describe. In it’s most basic form it’s a Facebook group of over five thousand Aussie and Kiwi GPs. Depending on the day, and who you talk to, it’s also a national park, a family, a support group, an educational resource, an advocacy … Continue reading →