This is not culture shock - it's more than this

An internationally-recruited doctor formerly based in provincial New Zealand, talks about professional isolation and racism that she and others like her face. Produced by Kadambari Raghukumar. FOLLOW Voices on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts. "We're going to have to address this in a far more systemic way," says Dr Carolyn Providence about professional isolation and racism that international doctors face after being recruited to fill positions in provincial and rural New Zealand. New Zealand's health system relies heavily on international recruits to fill positions - nearly 40-50 percent of the country's doctors are overseas-trained. Carolyn is originally from the Caribbean and her husband is German. Together with their young son, they emigrated from the UK to take up positions in provincial New Zealand as GP and a specialist 10 years ago.They were recruited as part of filling the shortage of specialists and doctors in New Zealand. "Settling into provincial New Zealand was very unsettling. It wasn't the sort of place we had been led to believe. There is a great resistance to change. I want to point out that this is not culture shock," she says. "This is more than this.""I was always worried about the health inequities and difference in healthcare given to people of different ethnicities. As I started to raise my voice I found myself incredibly marginalised. "As I got more vocal I always felt that things were getting more difficult for me. I would have ideas but would find myself sidelined."Carolyn says there were lots of assumptions made about why people came with certain conditions. Poverty was spoken of in derogatory terms and certain aspects of culture - Māori and Pacific culture - "were openly denigrated behind the scenes"."I'm a woman of colour and I felt more than a passing solidarity."She says there is no support-system or forum for recruits from overseas to voice concerns and discuss things without fear of prejudice. "My experiences are not unique. They've been repeated with other medical professionals. She and her husband felt compelled to leave for Auckland, she says. Carolyn says she was unable to provide the care she deemed was necessary to her patients because of the marginalisation she saw and felt. She faced what is called "moral injury" she says, when doctors feel distressed and unable to provide the care they would like. "Coming to Auckland was great - it restored our faith. We recognised there was more than a monoculture…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details