dave72

Hi all,

New to this forum so bear with me. I am a GP from Wales currently going through the motions of licencing/immigration to BC. Used to live in Whistler a long time ago and been desperate to move back (and ski!) since. Wife and young baby in tow so the town profile has changed somewhat. Looking at a couple of places in the interior; Vernon, Nelson and Revelstoke are all up there. If there are any GP’s here working in these locations be great to hear from you. Was hoping to message stinkypup directly but it appears I don’t have enough posts as yet….

Cheers!

dbd33

Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners

Phaedru5

Not a GP, but am a Brit who relocated to Vernon in the last 12 months and I can tell you one thing, we dont have enough GP's! By the way also bloody love it here. We considered Revy but it is very small and hard to get in - houses are overpriced and they sell with 3 backup offers in a matter of days, usually to Albertans who visit the ski hill a few times a year and the locals are pissed about it (understandably). It's a bit isolated in the winter and not much for the kids to do and only a few kids in each school grade - its my favourite place in the world but its only 90mins drive from Vernon but you get all the conveniences of being in the Okanagan and still the pleasures of being able to go whenever you want (apart from when the to highway to Revy is closed both ways because of an avalanches/rock slide/truck crash/trail derailment. )

dave72

Glad to hear you’re enjoying so much. Moving for several reasons …. but the skiing ranks highly! How do you find Silverstar? Have a summer recce in June so hoping to be sold on Vernon.

That highway to revelstoke sounds lethal btw :S

R I C H

Silverstar is OK, but it's ultimately quite small. After a couple of weekends there it gets a little limited. Sun Peaks (2nd largest resort in Canada) or Big White are better options in the interior.

Phaedru5

I have to disagree, Silverstar has more skiable terrain (1328ha to BW's 1119ha). The village is small for sure, whereas big white has kind of turned into a resort town, so it depends what you're more interested in the skiing itself or the apres. Big White is so far from town (Kelowna) that I guess it needs the apres, whereas Silverstar is so close (25mins) that you can easily pop up for a few runs, or spend all day as you please and then easily get home or into town for dinner. Thats what I love most about it, it being so close. I used to frequent Big White a lot so I know it very well and have to say I prefer Silverstar. Silverstar has more diversity of runs with the easier front side and the madness on the backside; also much more glade runs where you can weave through trees and pretend like you're wayyy off piste, all within bounds. We have also got into nordic skiing since moving here and the Silverstar and Sovereign Lakes network is huge! We have gone every weekend so far this season and still exploring.

Revy hill is very different, think of it as up and down rather than side to side, if that makes sense, you wont do many runs in a day but the ones you do are looongg. We also found it either extreme, or flat, not much inbetween, any greens on the piste map are cat tracks used only to get between areas of the mountain. Its an intense day out for sure! But I prefer having Silverstar as my local hill, at my skill level anyway.

And finally, I havent tried sunpeaks yet but hear good things. But at least from Vernon you can visit all 4 of the above in less than 2hrs driving

Siouxie

Hello and welcome to BE!

I'd suggest making a cuppa (or something a tad stronger) and having a good read of this thread: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners

Toryhunt

I have heard through the grapvine that things are likely to change in the very near future - there has been a lot of frustration with qualified GP's having to re-train in Obs/ Gynae and General Surgery & other rotations - when we enquired why this was a necessary, doctors having to take 16 weeks of training in order to practice in BC, the answer was that it is a very old By-law that has taken some time to change - we are currently recruiting Doctors from the UK, but with a process that sometimes looks like it is stalling physicians' progress, when we are always spouting about the 'physician crisis' and the money that is being poured into physician recruitment, it can be tiresome. We are looking forward to the time when there are less hoops to jump through. Having said all of that - don't be put off by the process, Canada is a wonderful place to practice, to raise kids and it is possible to thrive here (once you get past those obstacles, you'll be glad you did) ...

Siouxie

I moved your post to dave72's other thread in the main Canada Forum as the thread you posted to was for Immigration related information, not general information regarding BC's requirements for GP's. We try to keep the Immigration Forum strictly for Immigration related questions and answers.
Thank you for understanding. .

hannah1001

Hi! My husband is a GP in Summerland, so a little further south than your suggested areas but not too far away. We moved here 18 months ago with our 10yr old son and dog. We love it here... it's a far cry from being a GP partner in the UK! There are lots of British doctors here (they outnumber the Canadians in my husband's practice!) but we desperately need more. We are 45min door to door from our local ski resort, Apex. Its small and steep (lots of black runs) but very friendly and convenient! We're also close enough to ski Big White, Silver Star, Baldy and Manning Park (Silver Star is our favourite... we love it there! Small enough to have a friendly village vibe but lots of runs in different areas and lots going on. Big White is too much like a city now, plus is called Big Whiteout for a good reason!). We've skied Revelstoke too - the other poster was right about the very long runs!
Vernon and Revie are fun towns but arent right on the lake (which we are - we practically live on the beach May til October!). We considered Nelson too but ruled it out as it can get completely cut off in winter, plus the very alternative outlook there is cool but might make life as a GP challenging! Plus the more mountainous towns aren't as hot as the okanagan (I'm a sun worshiper! ).
To be honest though, you cant really pick a bad location from your list. Good luck with the application process... it's a bloody nightmare, but well worth it!

printer

This is an all to familiar issue in BC:

https://www.castanet.net/news/West-K...ht-lose-clinic

Phaedru5

Well in Coldstream you can be right on Kalamalka lake. We have the best of both worlds being right on the border of Vernon/Coldstream so 5 minutes one direction into town and 3 minutes the other into the lake
As you say this is much needed in the hot Okanagan summers.

Off topic : How's the rock slide coming along down there in Summerland? I had to take the 201 round to Penticton last week, was actually quite glad as the scenery was stunning!

Toryhunt

You should definitiely look at Kelowna/ West Kelowna too Especially if you have a young family, it's not great to be completely isolated in a new country (Nelson) ....

hannah1001

Yes, Coldstream is pretty stunning! I'd happily live there too! I sometimes take my horse up to Vernon Riding Club and love it up there.

The rockslide is still there but they've made a much shorter detour on the old highway next to the 97 now. Takes an extra 5mins. I've just avoided going north but it's been a nightmare for people living and working on either side of the slide. The 201 is pretty but looong!