TUESDAY
K A M L O O P S
THIS WEEK
Tuesday, March 13, 2012 X Volume 24 No. 21 www.kamloopsthisweek.com X 30 cents at Newsstands
Dr. Cornel Barnard has traded South Africa for Canada and is practising medicine — and our national winter sport — in his new home. Dave Eagles/KTW
By Jeremy Deutsch STAFF REPORTER
jeremy@kamloopsthisweek.com
I
T’S A CRISP fall day in October as a group of men gathers in the Ice Box Arena dressing room for afternoon hockey. Player turnout has been low so far this season. But, those numbers are about to grow — from two of the most unlikeliest of sources. Dressed in trendy jeans and carrying newly purchased skates and sticks, in walk Cornel Barnard and Johan Van Heerden. They are two doctors from South Africa who are about to indulge in the most popular Canadian pastime. In Afrikaans accents, they ask the men if they are in the right place — to which they are told, “Yes.”
OUT OF AFRICA
Unfortunately, that particular dressing room is full, so they move to another room. Their look — which resembles something from a European popmusic duo rather than what a typical bluecollar hockey player might don — raises a few eyebrows in the dressing room. But, after a few weeks and some lessons on the finer points of Canada’s beloved game, Barnard and Van Heerden quickly make friends and become part of the group.
They are also part of a medical invasion of sorts. Barnard and Van Heerden are among five doctors from the same graduating class practising medicine in Kamloops and the region. Van Heerden is a general practitioner working out of the Aberdeen Medical Centre, while Barnard is a GP with a practice in Barriere. The two 30-yearolds met on the first day of med school, at the University of the
Free State in the central South African city of Bloemfontein, and have remained friends since. However, unlike South African doctors of the previous generation, who looked for work overseas to escape the violence and volatility of the region, Van Heerden, Barnard and their classmates left the country to see the world and experience something new. Barnard and Van Heerden chose Canada by relying on a bit of word of mouth from other doctors here —
Cornel Barnard and Johan Van Heerden are among five doctors from the same graduating class practising medicine in the Kamloops region and the possibility of playing in the snow. But, their journey to Kamloops wasn’t a simple one. When Barnard and Van Heerden decided on Canada, they had to do their own sleuthing. They registered with a provincial organization called Health Match BC, a government-funded healthrecruitment service. Essentially, Health Match BC assists health-care professionals like Barnard and Van Heerden who want to work in the province. The organization is the expert at dealing with immigration and partnering with doctors to find out how they can get accredited with the
College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. Health Match BC also works with the various health authorities in the province to fill positions in need. In Barnard’s case, he was interested in the Iron Man Triathlon and used Penticton, which holds an annual event, as a geographical refer-
ence point. Eventually, he was shortlisted for Osoyoos and Lytton, but ultimately chose Barriere and moved to Canada in June 2007. A month later, Van Heerden followed, accepting a position in the town of Princeton. X See JUGGLING A10
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