The promised land.

have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey… Exodus 3:7-8 (KJV) F or 4 years of surgical residency I had the same locker in the OR change room — a small yellow cubicle , squeaky and dented, with scarcely enough space for a winter coat. Wedged as I was between a thoracic surgeon and an orderly, the locker room situation epitomized Canada's health care system: regardless of our station in life, we all shared the same level of facilities. Then one day I found an eviction notice taped to the locker door. Puzzled, I sought out the secretary whose name appeared on the slip of paper. " There's a new male nurse working part-time in recovery, " she explained. " He's entitled to a locker; residents only get a locker if there's one left over. And we're short now, so I'm giving him yours. " " But I'm here 80 hours a week! " I whined. " Where am I going to put my stuff? " " If you ask him nicely, maybe he'll share, " came the curt reply. As Orwell noted, some animals are more equal than others. If I thought the locker room situation anomalous and that life would improve as I progressed up the professional ladder, I was mistaken. After 5 lean years of residency, I spent an uninspiring year in northern Al-berta. The winter temperatures rarely rose above –40 °C and my income was comparable to the local tar sands workers, except I put in longer hours and didn't have a pension plan. For a welcome change, my wife and I relocated to Utah for an academic fellowship. Although our friends had warned us that life in the United States would include vicious street gangs, crazed right-wing militias and frivolous lawsuits, we found Utah very hospitable — friendly folks and gloriously mild winters. Rents were reasonable and groceries were cheap. The price of gas was under a dollar a gallon (about 35 cents Cdn a litre). And to my delight, I no longer had to put stamps on …