Good week here in Gisborne. After a few days of relative isolation (lousy weather, getting dark early, most people have families), I am finally starting to settle in. Thursday was a wonderful turning point--the sun came out, I made progress on getting my luggage (still not here), AND I had my first surf lesson! It was so fun! One of the other docs set up a group lesson for six of us ladies--such fun girls to meet and play with. With wet suits the water was warm and the surf board made for an excellent body board. ;) Yeah, I did not get up on the board that lesson. I think the California surf instructor we had was more disappointed about it than I was! But there is always today's lesson...;)

By the way, this is a statue of Captain James Cook, the first European to come to New Zealand. The statue stands in front of Poverty Bay. Apparently when Capt Cook arrived on its shores, the native population appeared and its warriors performed a traditional dance. Having seen some of the dances, I can tell you that they are energetic, aggressive, and can certainly look fierce with bug eyes, tongues stuck out, and tattoos everywhere including around the mouth. Capt Cook either grew tired of it or mistook it as a threat and shot several of the natives. Not surprisingly, they refused to share provisions with the visitors after that, and Capt Cook thus named the location Poverty Bay. Ha, there is a lesson for you...
Met my neighbors this week, Carlee and Tim, two pilots newly relocated from Christchurch starting work in Gisborne. They have a very interesting story. They actually worked in Africa for 3 years flying there, training for triathlons, until a severe bike meets car accident sent them home. They graced my home last night and tolerated my cooking, which I very much appreciated. I also got a kick out of telling them about the town, me giving advice to newcomers. Becky would be proud--I've come so far in one week!

As for work, Friday was the first day I took on hospital duties. A couple of ceasars (c-sections), a patient on the floor, a retained placenta from a vaginal delivery (pronounced va GI nal). In the first week of orientation at the hospital, however, I have already seen more pathology than the last months in practice. Two postpartum pulmonary emboli, a recurrent ovarian cancer, dozens of brittle diabetics. Gisborne is a central medical center for its region, somewhat isolated due to geography and servicing a low socio-economic center. The facilities are nice, but not quite complete. Different specialized services, such as radiation therapy or oncological surgery, are referred to tertiary centers. Referrals are based on the district, and sadly that can mean one case gets taken care of in three different districts: for example, a Greenfield filter to be placed in one, chemo in another, radiation therapy in a third, and travel to any of these is difficult...not easy to coordinate, not socialized medicine at its best...As for the rest of our speciality, we are considered consultants. GPs in the community address everything and refer to O&Gs (Ob/gyns) only for a problem. With obstetrics, private and hospital midwives manage patients in the community and on the maternity ward, and we only see high risk obstetric patients and only do operative deliveries. So we take a day of call a week, then three speciality half day clinics, and an administrative day. There are meeting and non-clinical duties there as well, but a world of difference from my past life...

Well, daylight savings kicked in for us last night, so the clock turned back and it is only 8 am (five hours behind California, although a day ahead). So I have a whole fabulous sunny day ahead of me! I wish you all the same! Cheers!