My Experience as a Travelling Doctor

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Years ago, I began searching for ways I could marry my career with my love of travel. During that time I researched the various jobs I could do on a cruise ship. One of the jobs I was qualified for was to be a cruise line physician and surgeon.


While I knew that the earnings are much less compared to what you can earn working at a hospital, there were still some obvious perks.  Not only did I get to embark on a 7 day cruise to the Caribbean or the Hawaiian islands, I learned that ship doctors are also given a private room, with the added benefit of unlimited free food and entertainment. Since many cruise lines scramble to find qualified doctors, I thought I’d give it a try. 


Understand, where there are positives, there are always negatives. 


First, I must note that the working hours were pretty intense with this job.  When there are 2 doctors on board, one is on call and the other is not.  This means that the other doctor is free to do the activities at the ports of call.  However, when it is your turn for duty, you have to be on call 24/7.  During the night you have to do calls to patients’ cabins, and people have to pay for this service.  Most times, they are not happy about this, and so they release their frustrations on the doctor.  


From my experience, a ship doctor will usually see anywhere from 10 to 20 patients a day, mostly with minor medical issues. However, some of the major issues seen are fractures, lacerations and GI problems. Since most of the people who embark on cruises are elderly, there were a lot of sprained ankles to be treated. Additionally, most cooks on a cruiseship are overworked and so I saw a lot of patients with burn injuries. 


Ships have a mini hospital on board and keep in them the necessities like medications, X-ray services, minor surgical equipment and some equipment found in an ICU.  If a major problem were to arise, the ship must have on board everything it needs to get the patient stabilized until a helicopter could arrive to take the patient to the nearest hospital. 


Now that I’ve outlined some of the positives and negatives, if becoming a cruise ship physician sounds intriguing, as with anything, make sure to do your due diligence first.  Contact the cruise line and ask about their application process and have them answer any questions that you may have. 


Here I was - off I was to fulfill my duty on the Norwegian Star - Pride of Norwegian Cruise Line.  The ship set sail from Miami on to Honolulu.  During the trip, I was even able to showcase my musical talent on the piano.  


Take a look at some of my pictures from the trip below!



































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