Having alot to do with remote community nurses, docs, student docs and a little less frequently, teachers, I am more than aware of how much these people put up with and how much reward they recieve for doing a sometimes less than thankless and occasionally violent job.
We host international student docs and nurses from all over the world, and for most of them culture shock is a very mild summary. We generally party their worries off, give em jobs like they will never experience anywhere else in the world, (tropical medicine is a unique field, community medicine in the tropics and sub tropics even more so) and show them the brand of hospitality they come back for.
We have students who finish med school and rebase back here for some odd reason!
. One german doc came here very shy, very nearly had him walk out on his first night, but after three weeks of working with the folks (nurses, PCA's, paramedics and perminant community docs here, he is coming back for his residency next year. He summed it up well...
"the country is vast, appears barron and devoid of life... but I looked closer, first I was scared, but now, I see warmth and genuine people like no where else in the world in a seeming inhospitible and spectacular place."
The remote areas breed an honesty and a genuine attitude rare in heavily populated environs.... for without friends and companions, and a self-motivated sense of fun and adventure, youd figuratively die out here and find somewhere more suited.
With a very small core of people who work and live in very close proximity you tend to rely on one another... this includes the communities pilots as they tend to be an essential link for both the medical and teaching professions.
Some of the best mates and life long friends I have met while working remote. Besides who else but the pilot can bring back the KFC, Maccas and Hungry Jacks in such style and be trusted not to eat all of it on the way back!