Hello Karl,
I just read my wife/nurse your work schedule and she said "I'm so thankful for what we have." I practice 5 miles from the B.C. border and I know what you're talking about. Many of the BC docs that can, practice down here in "the states". My 250 bed community hospital is listed in the top 100 hospitals in the US for its Cardiac and Orthopedic programs. Our cardiologists host an annual cardiac symposium whose keynote speakers have included former US surgeon general C. Everett Koop. How is this possible in a town of 60,000? Because of the flood of Canadian patients with cash (now at par!) coming down for specialized care they would wait up to 18 months for in BC. Half of our nursing staff are Canadian citizens and we're still 90 nurses short of being fully staffed. When I toured the new cath labs with 5 Canadian cardiovascular surgeons, two comments stuck with me: 1. "We work in a broom closet compared to this." and 2. "In Canada we're all equal, but I've never seen a politician on a waiting list." Nice to know our politicians don't have a monopoly on hypocrisy.
Seriously, though, if I worked your schedule I would find a new line of work. If you can drive a truck, they're paying $50/hr in Calgary right now. Heck, Taco Bell is hiring at $14.
If you're planning to take a vacation, (I'm sorry, I mean go "on holiday" for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler, be sure to stop by for a look at the Other Side.
Dave
