Doctor works for Army and family

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 532, 19 April 1994, Page 11

Doctor works for Army and family

By Michele Monaghan Patients of Doctor Diane Whiting will have to find another doctor. Doctor Whiting has moved to Wellington, but says she won't be surprised if she's back in a couple of years. Dr Whiting had been working in the Waiouru

surgery five mornings a week since January. Before January her Waiouru patients had to all be squeezed in on a Tuesday. She also worked in Taihape Monday and Thursday afternoons. She says she enjoyed the practice in Waiouru because it involved women 's health

and looking after children. Dr Whiting is hoping to find similar work in Wellington. She likes working part-time as it means she can keep up with medicine and still spend time with her two children. Dr Whiting completed most of her general practice training in the British Army,

choosing the military because she wanted to be a general practitioner but wanted to do something besides medicine. "Things like adventure training, rock climbing and it offered a good social life," says Dr Whiting. Dr Whiting came to New Zealand for a holiday and three and a half weeks later was engaged to be married, to W arren who she had met in the army. Dr Whiting moved to New Zealand in 1990 and joined the New Zealand Army. March 1992 saw the arrival of a daughter, Charlotte. She left the army because she didn't want to work full time and be oncall with a young family. October 1993 and baby number two, Alexander, was born in Taihape. Dr Whiting didn' t spend much time away from her profession after the arrival of her children. "You can't afford to have a long period away from medicine because you

get really out of date." Dr Whiting thinks that working and having a young family goes well together. "The time you spend with them is quality time," she says. Dr Whiting says she has missed shops and theatre and is looking forward to living in Wellington. She is also looking forward to having a house of their own. Dr Whiting thinks living in Waiouru has many advantages. There was always a lot of support - people looked after the children and always helped out in times of crisis like sickness. One disadvantage is the lack of privacy. "It was very difficult to keep ourselves private," Dr Whiting says. Dr Whiting thanked all the people for their support and friendship over the last two and a half years. She extended a special thanks to the people who organised and helped with her farewell afternoon tea, and for her farewell gift basket.