I worked with Médecins Sans Frontières in the second half of 2006 as a medical doctor in a remote hospital in the West African nation of Liberia. I had just completed my physician specialist examinations in internal medicine but was required to draw on basic skills in many other areas including paediatrics, obstetrics and surgery. In the months prior I worked in remote Aboriginal communities in northern Australia, an experience which sadly, prepared me well for work in a third world setting.