Doctor D. Down Under

Farming in Taihape or How I Met the Bull Everyone has some connection to farming, either because you are a farmer, married to a farmer, do business with farmers.  And farms here usually mean sheep, cattle, sometimes horses, sometimes fruit trees.  The vineyards tend to be toward the coastal, warmer areas,  and New Zealand does produce fine wines. I wish that I had had a first hand chance to see shearing or docking tails, but I did get to visit a farm. Antonia,  a physician at Taihape Health, lives with her husband and two children about 25 minutes north of Taihape--her husband's family farm.  They raise  about 4-500 bulls and 1000 sheep.  They have 3 herding dogs, and an older one who is more of a pet now.  They also have and enjoy fresh eggs.  I buy fresh eggs for $5/dozen from one of the nurses who has about 30 chickens.  The only chicken she eats comes from the supermarket. Antonia & Nicholas's dogs live in kennels close to...

Kia Ora! I'm sitting in the Wellington Airport waiting for my flight back to Palmerston North, where my car is waiting to take me back to Taihape after a busy weekend. The South Island! Te Anau is the town I drove to from Queenstown via rental car, a two hour journey. The town and Milford Sound, my other destination, are on the south end of this island.  The guide for our nature cruise said that it rains 4-9 meters per year here.  When I arrived, the mountains were enveloped in low white clouds, an air of mystery in the sky, with on and off fine rain.  Te Anau itself has some charm, bordering the second largest lake in New Zealand (Lake Taupo being the largest.)  It is also quite deep (greater than 400 meters in places) and cold, but people do swim in it in the summer.  The town is full of tourists, most bent on seeing Milford Sound either via tramping the Milford Track or like me, going via coach bus, and hence to a water cruise.  I was able to walk a...

Tena koutou on Dec. 1, 2019, I promised to talk about the medical system here in New Zealand, or at least the perspective I have in a rural farming town in mid-south North Island.  Going back to May 2019,  I had a description of the the Taihape Health clinic in front of me on my computer to consider as a locum tenens physician, and then an interview by phone.  I had my misgivings.  Why not the coast, or the South Island?  Why a place I couldn't even find in Fodor's Guide to New Zealand?  And the interview was not reassuring. I told them I didn't really have experience reducing fractures and casting them.  All ok. I said I hadn't really treated cuts with stitches for awhile.  O.K. Another locum physician came on the phone and told me how she reduced a shoulder dislocation when she first arrived.  I signed on.  There was the catch that on call was shared among the doctors and nurses.  This consisted of a Saturday clinic from ...

Kia Ora! A devoted reader has requested that I allot some time to talking about New Zealand food and language.  New Zealand food is not that different from food in the U.S.A.  (Vegans: don't listen to this). They have excellent beef and lamb, but I haven't found that it is cheaper than that which we buy.   They also sell mutton, but I haven't seen it in the local grocery.   There are sausage rolls and little meat pies that people can pick up from a BP or other cafe for a casual snack, breakfast, or lunch.  I haven't seen any fried Twinkies. In the grocery, one might see "Vegemite" or "Marmite," which I think, may be a UK spread derived from yeast extract, and served on bread or toast.  I haven't been brave enough to try it, but one patient I saw today loves it.  I've seen it described as molasses colored or thick paste, and very salty. In certain restaurants you can do "take away" or take out food, whether Asian, Indian, ...

Haere mai! (Welcome) Have driven down to Wellington, the Capitol of New Zealand,  Nov. 2, 2019.  It is 3 hours south of Taihape, so took a little lunch break halfway.  Gas is about $2.11 NZ dollars per liter (about $5  per gallon), but fortunately, my little blue Ford Focus is fuel efficient. Wellington is nestled up to the ocean, and the most southern city of the North Island, with ferries leaving for the South Island regularly. I did a LOT of walking here, going to the Te Papa Museum, which has New Zealand Art, and a display of the battle of Gallipoli, in which New Zealand fought with the English against the Turks during WWI. There are these huge statues created by WETA Workshop (did figures for "Lord of the Rings," and depict soldiers who fought in the war, or attended the casualties, like this doctor here. Lady Chapel Wellington Anglican Cathedral Walked to the Anglican cathedral, which actually still has services, though many of the church...

replica of Maori meeting house at Taupo Museum Tena koutou!  Which is Maori for hello to 3 or more people, Monday is my day off,  so I am catching up with this blog.  I am now starting my 3rd week in New Zealand.  I have had mixed emotions of terror and awe, homesickness, and delight. Orientation at the clinic was fast and ongoing.  The nurses are very competent and helpful, as are the ancillary staff.  Patients usually come in by appointment, but walk-ins are not uncommon.  We are about an hour from the nearest hospital; usually nurses/physicians manage uncomplicated fractures, wounds, asthma attacks, and stabilize people with chest pain or allergic reactions until the ambulance arrives.  The first day I worked here there were at least 4 ambulance calls (also involving 1 asthmatic 2 year old from a neighboring clinic who had to go by helicopter.  Weather was so bad the helicopter had to land and allow an ambulance to finish the journ...