The house is packed, the excess stuff given away and I fly out of Iqaluit tomorrow afternoon. It's been a wonderful year here and I've learned many things. I definetely have mixed feelings about leaving. I'll be happy to see Vancouver again and most of all to see Dr. H. (who has been out for a month already), but I'll miss the work here and the small town atmosphere and most of all the people. Being a small town doctor is an old fashioned idea but it is a nice occupation. The fact that you see your patients at the grocery store, at the movies and basically everywhere is, mainly, a nice thing. People seem to get a kick out of seeing their doctor doing non-doctor things (yes we have to go grocery shopping too, and no I didn't buy only healthy food!) I'll be coming back to Iqaluit (and Pangnirtung) regularly over the next year but it will be different to not live here.

There is lots to learn here, medical and otherwise and I think Iqaluit is a great place for young docs to work to enhance their skills. Here are a few important things I learned this year....

1) Everything is not a big deal.
2) Things don't always need to be on time.
3) More choice is not always a good thing.
4) You don't need much stuff to be happy.

(I also learned that people from down south talk way too fast, and that Inuit elders are as tough as anyone I have ever met, and many more lessons along the way.)

When Dr. H. and I first talked about moving north for a year we had mixed feelings about it. In the end our decision came down to this; 'When we look back do we want this to be the year we did something, or the year we did nothing?'. We took a chance and moved north, to both good and bad experiences but most of all to new experiences and ones that enriched us. Hopefully we take some of that wisdom with us into the rest of our lives, wherever that may lead....
Posted by Dr. J. at 2:02 PM 15 comments: Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Way way up Looking up the valley above Grise Fiord airport. A glacier moving towards the shoreline. A view of the sea ice from the air. A view of the town and surrounding mountains at take off.
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