Found out yesterday that my PQ has been reviewed and approved!!!! This means I am healthy enough to go to Antarctica. So now I can start to get some shopping done for some cold weather clothes. I do realize it is hard to find cold weather clothes when it is triple digit temperatures outside still. What would we do without the internet. Thinking about it, I am sure that many people remember life before internet, mail order catalogs and wait for weeks to get the stuff. Nowadays we can get the items overnight. Just knowing that makes me feel less stressed.
Today I called the CPMO office and found out my travel dates. I will be leaving on the 24th to Galveston, TX for orientation 25th and 26th. Heading back to Phoenix on the 27th and then departure to New Zealand on the 1st of October. The plan is for me to be heading to Antarctica on the 5th of October. I thought for a while that I would miss my birthday this year, since when I travel to New Zealand I will not experience the 2nd of October and my birthday is the 3rd. If I had missed the 3rd would I be 41 for one more year??
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
Introduction
I created this blog to allow family, friends and anybody else who would be interested to follow me in my new adventure. I have been fortunate enough to been offered to work as a flight RN at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica for this coming Austral summer season. I will be leaving end of September and be there for 5 months.
I need to mention that I would not be able to do this without the support of my wife Brigita and our 3 kids Bleu, Tausi and Indi (thank you and I love you all very much)
Since I was offered the job a lot of people have been asking me a lot of different questions, like why would I want to go to Antarctica? My answer is why not. It is a place that few people get the opportunity to visit and I get to do something I love. I get to take care of patients during transport that are in need of care not available where they are located. The favorite thing about flight nursing is the one to one care, I don't have to worry about any other patients except for the one that I am transporting.
Another question I get is how did I get this job. I was looking online to see if there were any flight nurse jobs that would interest me and I saw this posting and had a brief discussion with my wife and applied. I did not really think I would be considered, but thought it doesn't hurt to throw my name in the hat. I received an email from CPMO (Center for Polar Medical Operations at University of Texas Medical Branch) approximately 2 weeks after I sent my initial application requesting a screening call. I had my 30 minute phone call and was very excited to see if I would hear back from them. I don't really know how many people that had applied for this position. It is only one position available, so I thought my chances were slim, but felt honored to be considered.
I had my formal interview and was told after the interview they would let me know if I was selected to move on in the interview process. I received a phone call a few days later and they wanted to schedule me to interview with the medical director. I had my interview with Dr Parazynski and felt ok about my performance. Then I also had a Skype interview with Dr Parazynski 2 weeks later. I did not feel very confident about getting the position at this time, but I tried to stay positive. I did not hear anything for a few weeks and thought I had been taken out of consideration, but I tried my best and that is really all I can do. When I did receive the phone call from Les Green (Business Manager for CPMO) and he offered me the position as the primary flight nurse, I was happy, excited and felt very privileged to be part of the CPMO team and go back to do something I really enjoy.
I am going to have to get my PQ (Physical Qualification) done and that is the final hurdle before I am 100% confirmed that I am going. Luckily for me I started to work out much more at end of April to get in to shape and become more healthy. I am still a bit nervous about finding out something I don't know about my health during my PQ. I do consider myself a fairly healthy person, I don't get sick very often and I don't have any chronic illnesses.
I will let you all know when I have passed my PQ.
I need to mention that I would not be able to do this without the support of my wife Brigita and our 3 kids Bleu, Tausi and Indi (thank you and I love you all very much)
Since I was offered the job a lot of people have been asking me a lot of different questions, like why would I want to go to Antarctica? My answer is why not. It is a place that few people get the opportunity to visit and I get to do something I love. I get to take care of patients during transport that are in need of care not available where they are located. The favorite thing about flight nursing is the one to one care, I don't have to worry about any other patients except for the one that I am transporting.
Another question I get is how did I get this job. I was looking online to see if there were any flight nurse jobs that would interest me and I saw this posting and had a brief discussion with my wife and applied. I did not really think I would be considered, but thought it doesn't hurt to throw my name in the hat. I received an email from CPMO (Center for Polar Medical Operations at University of Texas Medical Branch) approximately 2 weeks after I sent my initial application requesting a screening call. I had my 30 minute phone call and was very excited to see if I would hear back from them. I don't really know how many people that had applied for this position. It is only one position available, so I thought my chances were slim, but felt honored to be considered.
I had my formal interview and was told after the interview they would let me know if I was selected to move on in the interview process. I received a phone call a few days later and they wanted to schedule me to interview with the medical director. I had my interview with Dr Parazynski and felt ok about my performance. Then I also had a Skype interview with Dr Parazynski 2 weeks later. I did not feel very confident about getting the position at this time, but I tried to stay positive. I did not hear anything for a few weeks and thought I had been taken out of consideration, but I tried my best and that is really all I can do. When I did receive the phone call from Les Green (Business Manager for CPMO) and he offered me the position as the primary flight nurse, I was happy, excited and felt very privileged to be part of the CPMO team and go back to do something I really enjoy.
I am going to have to get my PQ (Physical Qualification) done and that is the final hurdle before I am 100% confirmed that I am going. Luckily for me I started to work out much more at end of April to get in to shape and become more healthy. I am still a bit nervous about finding out something I don't know about my health during my PQ. I do consider myself a fairly healthy person, I don't get sick very often and I don't have any chronic illnesses.
I will let you all know when I have passed my PQ.
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