Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Schmooze Fest

I went to my first schmooze fest in Cork yesterday. It was brought to us by...... the generous taxpayers of Ontario! That's right folks, not Pfizer, Apotex, or some other bloodsucking pharmaceutical, but by the government of Ontario. It was held at the 5-star Hayfield Manor and they pampered us with fancy hors d'oeuvres, free alcohol (incl Cdn beer), and door prizes, all the while trying to highlight the perks of working in the lovely province of Ontario.

They wooed us with their high salaries, array of available residency specialties, relatively low tax rates, and did their best to downplay the drawbacks of working in Ontario. These include (among other things): a mandatory 4-month "cultural readjustment" term to acclimatize us back to the country we grew up in and a 5-year return of service contract that puts us up in Timbuktu, ON.

So how well did they sell the opportunity to work back in my home province? Time will tell as this is the first year they're heavily recruiting foreign trained Canadian doctors, but for now I'll take whatever free food and drinks they throw at us, and the chance to hang w/ my fellow Canadians in Cork. eez..