The best thing about our practice is that it is situated in the heart of Māngere, at the town centre. I get to see the community I grew up in.
My greatest achievement is beating metastatic bone cancer as a teenager. I thank God I’m still alive today. Everything else is a bonus.
Something about me that might surprise people is that I have one lung and a metal joint in my left knee from my sickness as a teenager. I walk with a slight limp, but I call it “Swag”, lol.
My favourite word is “sapasui” or chop suey in English.
The trait I most dislike in myself is impatience. I always want to run at 100km per hour from the get-go. However, I guess I have to learn that good things take time. Hopefully not a lot of time though.
The trait I most dislike in others is dishonesty. I guess with any relationship, trust helps make things tick along a lot better.
I like to relax with family, watching a movie with a nice feed to go with it. Yes, sapasui and taro cooked in coconut cream, mmmmm.
Too many ideas without the time or capacity to do them all, is what keeps me awake at night. That and our seven-year-old son, who sneaks into our bed at night and elbows me in the ribs.
My funniest moment as a GP was when I was in my training as a registrar up north. We had to look after a prison clinic. In my first week and about to enter a treatment room, I put my head around the curtain to see if the nurse and patient were ready to see me. The nurse saw me and growled me off, thinking I was one of the prisoners peeking through. My supervisor had to tell her I was the doctor assisting that day. After that, she was really, really nice to me. I thought that was funny.
Three things I’d like to see changed about general practice are: 1) To have access to diagnostics as specialists; 2) To have the specialty on a par with others in order to attract more trainees, especially more Māori and Pasifika; 3) To have funding follow the patient.
My ideal dinner party guests would be Pastor Myles Munroe, Bishop TD Jakes and Jim Rohn. Good food for the body, mind and soul.
If I wasn’t doing my current job I would be working at a gym or something in sports.
I’d take a boat with me if I was stranded on a desert island.
There is nothing at the top of my bucket list, life is exciting enough – everything’s a bonus