PEOPLE WE MEET
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WOLLONGONG ADVERTISER
I was born in 1973. I am from Malmo, southern Sweden. I grew up in in a village of 2000 people. I'm the first doctor in my family. I grew up knowing hay and cows and cleaning the stables. My mother's a physiotherapist and my dad is a teacher. I was 17 when I decided I wanted to be a doctor. I worked as a nanny in Switzerland. I dropped out of school - I didn't achieve the results I was wishing for. I didn't want to be restricted by bad marks so I just thought 'take a step back'. So I went to Switzerland and the people I worked for I just adored and I really respected them. They were both doctors. I wanted to be like them. I didn't think I was going to study medicine then, I thought I was stupid because I couldn't handle school. I went back to Sweden and started night classes. I said to myself 'don't promise yourself or anyone results, just try for a limited time to do something different.' I was studying science, maths, the pre-med courses. After the first semester, in Christmas 1991, I got all As and I thought maybe I should give it a go.
After two years of evening school, I got into med school, where I studied for 5 ½ years. I specialised in general surgery after my internship and I also tried kidney transplant and organ donation, before I decided to get a more family-friendly career. I worked in Helsingborg and Malmo in general surgery for 2 ½ years. It was intense, hard work, competitive and tough. When I turned 30, I realised I don't have to prove a lot of things. I need to do something that's not that competitive and tough. Sometimes I worked 30 hours without a break. I was in the organ donation team and I was the only assistant doctor.
I always had GP locum assignments in between and then I went working for three surgeries. I met my husband Richard in Zurich in 2006. He lived in London, I lived in Sweden and we started dating. We went back and forth between Australia and Sweden for a while. I have been very hesitant to move because I didn't have the confidence to take the step. In 2006 I started the curriculum to do training for family medicine. I was too immature initially to do this long-term thinking and planning to be a GP. I am genuinely interested in people. I love to getting to know people and I also love human nature. With human nature comes the fears and anxieties. If I can help as a doctor, I feel that's rewarding. Continuity and long-term planning, building trust, communication - you have to have those to practise properly.
We came here to do something together, get friends together, a network together, build a future together. It was attractive to me to come a community where there hadn't been a GP and a community that had been suffering from prejudice. The reputation doesn't reflect reality. This is exciting and challenging. We were on holiday in Wollongong when I saw a story in the Illawarra Mercury about the need for a GP in Port Kembla. I love the nature, close to snow in winter, beach, forest. Ian [Fulford] from the Port Kembla Chamber of Commerce said we need a young, flexible doctor and I told him I'm probably your doctor. Before you are a fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners you need to have a principal supervising doctor, which is Dr Mark Moffitt at Windang. He has been amazing and the supervision has been fantastic. I still work afternoon sessions there. I am now a fellow of the college. Throsby MP Stephen Jones has smoothed the way for me too.
Our practice is open Monday to Friday, 8.30am-1.30pm. It's not completely bulk-billed. We have a gap fee for patients between 18 and 65. When I have the financial capacity to do so I might change it. The specialty I have is family medicine and women's health. People are super excited to have a doctor. I think has something to do with the dignity and self-esteem of the community. We have a cafe, we have a dentist, we have nice shops and we have a doctor. I like the patient-centred care in Australia. Australians don't realise how much resources primary health care is allocated - it's amazing.