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AAP News Vol. 15 No. 9 September 1999, p. 13 © 1999 American Academy of Pediatrics
"Welcome to Kotzebue. Temperature: 57 degrees. Sunrise: June 2. Sunset: June 21." Reading this sign as his plane touched down in the Alaskan bush, Lance Chilton, M.D., FAAP, realized he and his colleagues were about to glimpse the singular satisfaction and challenge of practicing medicine near the Arctic Circle. For instance, simply getting patients to a doctor's office can be a problem. "In summer," explained Jonathan Jantz, M.D., FAAP, "transportation is by boat. In winter, the government pays to plow the river. In spring or fall, when the ice is breaking up, they fly the patients in."
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