New Helensville doctor, Anuj Gupta, cites New Zealand’s clean air, environment and weather as among the main reasons for moving here from Singapore.
Anuj joined the team at Kaipara Medical Centre in mid-May after a brief holiday to New Zealand with his family last November. He says his family couldn’t really enjoy life in Singapore because of the air pollution, which meant they had to stay indoors in their air conditioned apartment much of the time.
Now living in the Albany area with his wife and two primary-aged children, Anuj is enjoying being able to spend more time with his children, walking and pottering around in his small garden - something not possible with high-rise apartment living in Singapore.
He practices meditation and yoga, and believes the more physical kiwi lifestyle will be better for his children than the more academic focus of his homeland. “I enjoy spending time with my young family, reading, going for nature walks, practicing yoga and mindfulness. I am a keen follower of cricket and world news. Like a lot of people, I am concerned about our impact on our environment and global warming,” he says.
Anuj has a Masters of Family Medicine degree from the National University of Singapore. He says rural medicine in New Zealand is quite different. “GPs here have a more important role in terms of managing patients’ health,” he says, pointing out that in Singapore patients tend to be referred more to specialists, who are much more common than in New Zealand. “I think that’s good for us as GPs as it allows us to form a good rapport with our patients.” He adds that works both ways, with patients getting to know their doctors better here as well.
He says local guidelines for medications are a little different here to what he has been used to, and there are some different drugs, or drugs with different names, available here. But overall he says the differences aren’t great, largely because both the New Zealand and Singapore healthcare systems are based on the British system.
One area he has noticed a difference is a higher percentage of patients here on chronic pain or psychiatric medications; he believes Singapore is more conservative in those cases. Anuj says he is very pleased that Kaipara Medical Centre is keen on promoting professional development, and has already undertaken refresher training in emergency medicine. “I consider it a privilege to be looking after the healthcare needs of the community in Helensville and surrounding areas,” he says. “I hope to continue doing so for a long time to come.”
Published in Helensville News, July 2016
