Locums for a Small World Blog

Nowhere in Dr. Leonard Bentch's CV does it mention his knack for writing, but his talents extend well beyond Internal Medicine. A retired physician, Dr. Bentch was sailing the Caribbean when he received a call that took him on a six-month locum adventure with his wife, Sue. He recently put his many remembrances to paper, and we're proud to present the first of three installments here.

Twenty miles off the Coast of Martinique Island in the Caribbean, at the beginning of a two-month sail of the Windward Islands and the Grenadines, we recieved a phone call on a cell phone we'd brought along in case of emergencies. We did not expect to hear the voice of a Global Medical recruiter on the other line, but there they were, asking if we'd be interested in a six-month locum position in New Zealand. Recently retired from active practice, I'd forgotten that I'd completed a GMS application several months earlier. I looked at my wife; we smiled, and quickly concurred.

Dr. Steven Vilter's passion for the Land Down Under
is evident in the photos he takes and the stories that accompany them. Here's his latest dispatch:

Hello Everyone!

We finally made it out to Tiri Tiri Matangi Island (an open nature and conservation reserve), which has been cleared off and grazed for 130 years. The expectation was that the native bush on the island would regenerate, but by the mid-80's it became evident that wasn't happening. A grassroots campaign to replant the island and clear it of pests ensued. Now, several endangered species have been reintroduced and are thriving,
and this peace of heaven has been declared pest free. (Note: Tiri Tiri is a Maori name that means "tossed by the wind" and the mythology says the island is a remnant of an ancestral fishing net.)

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Sir Edmund Hillary, Rugby, the America's Cup - all great things that have come out of New Zealand over the years. More recently, however, the country introduced something that really takes the cake: Zorbing.

An outdoor adventure sport, Zorbers climb into the hollow center of a giant transparent ball (brand named ZORB®), then hurl themselves off a ledge, rolling and bouncing at speeds of more than 35 MPH down a steep hill. It's all grass, sky, and limbs - punctuated by screams.

First developed in Auckland, the ZORB was designed to entertain bungy-jumping-fanatics-turned-bored (though we believe the ZORB was first developed in the early 70's and was called a hampster ball). Whichever the case, a couple of guys in New Zealand thought it would be a terrific idea to make a 12-foot plastic sphere, then put a human inside for the thrill of it. They did; it worked; business spread across the country; and a downhill revolution began. In fact, Zorbing (or globe riding) is one of the first things our locum tenens put on their list of things to do Down Under.

Now, the revolution has rolled (pardon the pun) into the state of Tennessee, where it has found a fanatic following. In Pigeon Forge, riders can take a tumble down a grassy slope inside a specially designed ZORB that offers a choice of a being strapped to a seat or tumbling head-over-heels in a sphere filled with water. "It's like water-water rafting without the rocks," says CEO Craig Horrocks.

Since Tennessee has claimed the distinction of having the only official ZORB course in America, people have been pouring in from all over to take a turn at this crazy New Zealand import. And while the folks in Pigeon Forge proudly advertise their course right alongside other popular Smoky Mountain attractions like Dollywood and the Elvis Museum, ZORB zealots say nothing can compete with their hillside thrillride.

Early this year, Dr. Kathryn Starkey and Molly Evans left Australia and headed for their fifth locum assignment, this time on the South Island of New Zealand. After settling into their new digs, they sent this:

Dear All,

If we've seen it once, we've seen it a million times; doctors who locum Down Under get caught up in the grips of a grueling affliction known as fear and loathing of packing. Despite months of planning, these doctors and their families preparing for locum assignments are left staring at their suitcases for untold amounts of time, unsure about what to take and what not to take. Symptoms include melancholy; fear of exorbitant airport charges for overstuffed luggage; fear of not having their Aquafresh toothpaste in Refreshing Ice Mint flavor, and more. They become morose, ill-humored, broken or really "pack the sad," as they say Down Under. Dr. Kathryn Starkey, a veteran locum for Global Medical, and her partner, Molly Evans, have experienced the effects of this disorder first-hand and have offered up a fine solution: The Starkey & Evans Definitive Guide to Packing for a Locum Adventure Down Under.

Written by Joyce Ann Pardue, MD    

Written by Joyce Ann Pardue, MD