AlvicBC

Just to pull you in another direction I vote you come to Kamloops lol. We also are in dire need of GP's as you've heard from a few other posters. We are a lovely sized city, surrounded by all the outdoor activities you could dream of, just a short winter and the second largest Ski resort in Canada 40 minutes away, Sun Peaks. You have a lot of areas to check out but can't go wrong in the South Thompson or Okanagan regions!

Stinkypup

Well, some might dispute this- particularly some in the "Unhappy in Canada"thread although some are relying on word of mouth/forum without ever visiting the area, scarcely reliable ! I agree with you tough, I love it here

AlvicBC

Lol why what are they saying?

skybluepink

Hi all, it's so nice to have such a positive response! As Gowest said, over here in the UK, there's so much Dr bashing in the papers that it can be demoralising to the point that Ive told my children not to go into medicine !!!
Saying that, my own patients are appreciative and I love my profession, well most of it😀 and wouldn't have wanted to do anything else.
Does anyone live in Kelowna or know what it's like there?

Stinkypup

Basically that the Okanagan is full of rich drunken rednecks into killing all wildlife
looking like Joan Rivers. All a bit bizarre. I wouldn't mind but the ones shooting their mouths off have never actually been here and pontificate about a place that they actually know nothing about- that's the joy of forums for you!

Stinkypup

Skybluepink, I can see how bad things have got in the UK- it is really sad that you have to think about escaping but I have to say that despite being such an upheaval, it was a move that I personally 100% believe was absolutely the right one. You have control of your professional life again. Same illnesses, very different system, but you adapt and the patients really appreciate you here too. They are grateful to have a family doc and don't take it as a right and feel that you should be available 24/7 as they now seem to in the UK. As for where you settle, you have as previously posters said your choice. Choose what you want from life and go for it. If in time you prefer somewhere else then you can move to another area. The move over here is the big one. As for exams, you will breeze through them. If you have to work in hospitals then pass your exams, and if you have MRCGP then you get your CCFP on a reciprocal arrangement and you would then be able to walk away from hospital responsibilities and enjoy life looking after your patients in your office without the asinine box ticking,audits and brain shower meetings that seem to be the norm in the UK

skybluepink

Thanks Stinkypup its good to know you as a practising GP feel it's been a definite good move.

Stinkypup

I think that I worded this wrong- what I meant to say was that the drunken rednecks look like Joan Rivers, not the wildlife!

Lychee

skybluepink - what sort of lifestyle are you hoping to live in BC? Would you blindly consider living anywhere in the UK, whether it was western Northern Ireland, Slough, Coventry, Brighton, or the Isle of Skye, as long you were guaranteed a job? Or would lifestyle, local culture, amenities, etc. factor into your decision?

All these places you've been listing offer you different lifestyles, different types of neighbours, different values, different demographics, different climates, amenities, services, activities, and so on.

For example, Kelowna's great if you're into the outdoors (skiing, mountain biking, boating, water skiing), wineries, and agri-tourism. It's a spectacularly-located piece of urban sprawl overlooking a magnificent lake. The climate is semi-arid and desert-like, a contrast to the rainy wet coast near Vancouver. There are beaches galore. In the summer, there are a lot of tourists as it is a major summer resort destination. It's isolated by UK standards and the entire region requires a car to explore. If you're not seeking big cosmopolitan city life, a multicultural (by London standards) society, and all the infrastructure and services that come with, and you don't mind locals being more socially and politically conservative than elsewhere in BC, it may be the perfect place for you. Or it could be alienating and tiring and not at all what you're looking for. Or it could be absolute blissful paradise. I don't know.

What are you looking for in terms of lifestyle? This will allow us to be a lot more useful. We could possibly point you in the right direction. Right now it feels like you're throwing darts blindly at a map of BC.

Oink

Welcome to the forum.

AlvicBC

Personally speaking we had the choice of Kelowna or Kamloops and I'm so glad we chose Kamloops. We go down occasionally to Kelowna and my husband usually ends up in cardiac arrest because of the traffic in it. Now to the big city folk in here they will laugh at you but one main road through town where all traffic has to go is ghastly. We have no such traffic problems in Kamloops. Kelowna does have a better mall but I'm not really into shopping so it don't bother me. It's slightly quicker to get to Vancouver from here too as long as you don't go up the high mountain passes in bad weather lol. I just love it here. I took a silly notion two weeks ago of moving to Vancouver Island because we had another snow storm, yet here we are with no snow and double digits. Sometimes the brown landscape wears a bit thin and Okanagan summers are very very hot but lots of nice rivers and lakes to cool off in or get a house with a pool.

Gowest

Skybluepink is doing exactly what we've done
If you exclude the very remote places (where a GP has to be able to deal with major trauma and women giving birth and any other potential scary scenario) there are only a few places in BC that you can go - Okanagan, the outer regions of metro Vancouver and into Fraser valley and the island. If you want a fairly large place (ie >80000 population) then that limits you further.
So they're not throwing darts at a map - they are just listing the possibilities.
If someone coming to uk was told their only options were Isle of Skye, western n Ireland or Coventry they would lump those together too. Even though in all other ways they don't appear to have a lot in common.

skybluepink

Thanks for articulating that in a much better way than I could have Gowest! Yes, it can appear a random act of crazyness picking out these areas which are quite different , but my priority is not being expected to be a cardiologist rolled into an obstetrician rolled into an anaesthetist which is what can be expected of a Dr serving a rural community .
Oh you have stopped breathing .. Let me pop in an airway for you ... � ����
In the UK there is no way a GP would be asked to go into a hospital to look after their patient when they need to be an in patient . That's what 'hospital privileges ' means. And all the sponsoring health authorities require you to sign up to these in order for them to sponser you. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours style... Though slightly anxiety provoking for the GP who is used to the hum drum life of UK practice . I know there will be payoffs to choosing to leave a system in which you have trained it's just choosing upto a level you can practically cope with..
Sorry , I know none of us had made that clear so I can see why it looked so strange!
Thanks for the description of Kelowna it does sound amazing..

Stinkypup

Good post Gowest. Re the hospital privileges SBP, you are not on your own, you have internists/specialists if you need help. Just don't pick genuinely out in the sticks places like Golden etc Unless you have an urge to do ER medicine, you can 100% avoid the intubating duties and thankfully obstetric duties and leave it to to experts. Just imagine that it is like looking after the cottage hospital in Betws-y-Coed.(I confess I had to check the spelling on that one!)

snoopdawg

Spot on! As a GP from the UK , you are limited so it makes sense to look at all areas that you can potentially work- and I think you listed them well

BTW- Kelowna- don't live there but visit the shops/airport. I like it, but traffic is a bit of a nightmare, although once you get to know it, there are other roads to escape the 97. It has a good hospital,a real shortage of GPs ( but so has everywhere!!) and hospitalists. One downside for me would be it's main lake is the Okanagan which is huge and can be quite rough from what I've seen, I prefer the smaller, prettier and more predictable Kalamalka Lake, although both are packed with Albertans with their flashy toys blaring Hotel California all July /August. Maybe not this year though!!!!