There’s a new doctor in town at Cariboo Memorial Hospital.
Dr. Gloria Cudjoe makes Williams Lake her new home, being named the hospital’s new general internal medicine specialist (Internist), with training in Respirology.
“Being a doctor in the first place was a childhood thing [idea],” Dr. Cudjoe says. “I grew up in a community where being a doctor was looked well upon. But I think for me, I got quite ill in my final year of high school. I got a terrible bout of pneumonia and the care that I got from my general practitioner who helped me through it, is what built this need to be a doctor in me.”
Cudjoe, whose parents initially wanted her to become an accountant, persevered through six years of medical school. Discovering Respirology and internal medicine in her second year of study.
“We [Internists] often deal with conflicts, patients with multiple diseases and conditions. You feel like you’re kind of like a detective trying to figure out something wrong, and putting together a diagnosis for the patient. The small things you do can make a big difference in the patient’s outcome.”
Cudjoe says the decision to uproot her family, a husband with three young children, and immigrate to Canada came from a childhood fascination for the country.
“I have always liked Canada, I knew it was a place I wanted to visit,” she says. “When we decided to immigrate, we were looking at options for countries. My brother has already moved here, he’s in Toronto. He advised us that it was a nice country to raise a family in, and we started looking for job opportunities.”
The family chose B.C. because the recruitment process was faster and allowed Cudjoe to write her the required exams and start practicing medicine faster. Deciding to look for opportunities in a more rural area than another “huge city” like Johannesburg. Williams Lake was one of the first hospitals that contacted Cudjoe with an opportunity.
“We didn’t know anything about Williams Lake, despite what the internet told us,” Cudjoe says. “We just didn’t know what to expect. We couldn’t imagine how cold it is, we didn’t know how we would adjust. We didn’t even have enough warm clothes. There’s no amount of warm clothes you can buy in Africa that would counter this sort of cold.”
Cudjoe says, all their worries went away when they arrived in Williams Lake because of the generosity of the people.
“Everyone just chipped in and helped. Gear and school recommendations, it really made is that much easier for us to settle in.”
With the community’s help, the Cudjoes fully enjoyed a great new experience for the entire family, including the adults – snow.
“The kids were super super excited. Thankfully we had gear ready. They went out and played, and didn’t even want to come in. I personally had never really seen snow, so that was quite nice for me. It was something special, a new experience all together.”
As to her work. Dr. Cudjoe already has plans on setting up an outpatient clinic later in the New Year. Working alongside another doctor from Vancouver to treat patients. She says that all her patients have been kind.
“The patients have been very welcoming. They all seem so grateful. It’s nice to feel like you are actually going to make a difference.”
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