Dr Gian Haggard MB ChB CCFP

William M. Glenn

Dr Gian Haggard and his girlfriend (now his wife), Dr Henriëtte Groenewald, received a very chilly reception on their first day in Canada. On March 4, 1997, after several delays, their flight from South Africa via Amsterdam and Minneapolis, Minn, finally landed at Winnipeg International Airport at 2:30 am. He remembers it clearly. “It was my 26th birthday. We didn’t have to wait for our luggage—the airline had lost it all somewhere along the route. So wearing just sweaters and light jackets, the automatic doors slid open and we were slapped square in the face with a blistering-cold, −35°C prairie welcome.”

Drs Haggard and Groenewald were headed to Pinawa and Lac du Bonnet, neighbouring small towns about 110 km northeast of Winnipeg, to start practices in family medicine. If they had stayed in South Africa, Dr Haggard had been scheduled to start a residency in obstetrics and gynecology and Dr Groenewald had been halfway through her pediatrics residency.

“We decided to come to Canada for an adventure and to see a different part of the world,” says Dr Haggard. “If we’d finished our residencies in South Africa, we would both have been so absolutely swamped with work that we would have never seen each other!”

Instead, they both chose family medicine. “I had absolutely zero experience in family medicine when we arrived. Everything I know about it I learned in Canada,” says Dr Haggard. Fortunately, there was a large community of expat South African physicians working in Manitoba who were more than ready to answer any of their questions on either medicine or life in Canada. “They helped make the transition so easy,” he says.

Today, they both practise at the Dakota Medical Centre in south Winnipeg and live with their 11-year-old son, Ethan, in rural La Salle about 20 minutes outside the city. “Initially, we were planning to come to Canada for just a year,” says Dr Haggard, “but within 3 months we both knew we weren’t going back to South Africa. There’s a great sense of safety and security here. If you lose your wallet, you know chances are very good someone will turn it in. Plus you get a lot more bang for your buck.”

From that chilly start 18 years ago, Dr Haggard and his family have acclimated well. Every winter, they skate, ski, toboggan, and share season tickets for the Winnipeg Jets with a group of friends. Dr Haggard even learned to curl. “Back in 1999, I had laser eye surgery—both eyes done at the same time,” he says. “So there I was, lying on the couch wearing 2 eye patches, listening to the Brier on the TV and occasionally flipping up a patch to steal a quick glimpse of the action.” That’s when he knew for sure that Canada was his home.

“Smile! It makes everyone wonder what you’ve been up to”

PHOTOS (LEFT): Dr Haggard in his office.

PHOTOS (RIGHT, FROM TOP): Dr Haggard and his wife, Dr Henriëtte Groenewald. Dr Haggard with receptionists Val Peters (left) and Dani Chalus (right). Dr Haggard with Dani and Val. Dr Haggard and his son, Ethan, in the snow at their house (photo submitted by Dr Haggard). Skiing at Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna, BC, with Henriëtte and Ethan (above; photo submitted by Dr Haggard)).

Footnotes

Dr Haggard is a family physician at Dakota Medical Centre in Winnipeg, Man.
THE COVER PROJECT Canadian Family Physician has embarked on a project to assemble the portrait of family medicine in Canada. Each cover of the journal features a family physician chosen at random from our membership list, along with a short essay—a brief glimpse of the person and the practice. Over time, the randomness will become representative and the differences, taken together, will define what it is that all family physicians have in common.