9th November- Being a Doctor at Sea

Ships Doctor

For the last 4 years I have combined my job as an emergency medicine doctor in the UK with medicine in the polar regions. First with the British Antarctic Survey, then the government of South Georgia and more recently a polar tourism company. I have worked with the National Oceanographic Centre once before but this trip with the James Cook is my first time working somewhere hot!

Working as a doctor in these remote spots usually means a light medical workload but you have to prepared my anything, I have treated malaria in the Antarctic, serious trauma on South Georgia and was the expedition medic during a mass casualty incident in the Arctic.

However a lot of my time has been spent in non medical pursuits. In the Antarctic I helped weigh penguins and fur seal pups. I have driven boats and learnt how to bake bread. For a while I ran the South Georgia post office. On the cruise ships I combine medicine with my other passion, photography and work partly as a photography guide.

Below is a selection of photos from the places I have visited.

stars2-small — South Georgia, Antarctica. Mid Winter Camping whilst working for the British Antarctic Survey

20130103-IMG_0504-small — Gentoos at Maiviken, South Georgia, British Antarctic Survey Penguin and Seal Science Area

20130124-IMG_3512-small — Blonde Fur Seal, South Georgia, British Antarctic Survey

pengriverlentic1-small — Clouds over Penguin River, South Georgia, British Antarctic Survey

1-cover-small — Iceberg near Pleneau Island, Antarctica, Quark

20121221-IMG_9809-small — Whale, Wilhelmina Bay, Antarctica, Quark

20130620-IMG_9384-small — Polar Bear, Svalbard, Quark

www.samcrimminphotography.com

Blog Written By: Sam Crimmin

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