Sarah (left) and Corissa, a friend and fellow traveler, pose for a photo atop Anvil Mountain with Nome and the Bering Sea serving as their backdrop.

Now, she is on her second contract extension at Norton Sound Regional Hospital (NSRH), a non-profit institution that serves the roughly 4,000 residents of Nome as well as those who live in 15 "neighboring" villages, which are spread out over an area the size of Pennsylvania. "While each village has its own clinic," says Sarah, "when patients need further treatment, they're sent here."

Sarah in nearby solomon, a vacant, old mining town that's home to the "Last Train to Nowhere" and an old gold dredge.

In fact, she has pitched in and helped care for pediatrics, OB/GYN, and psy-chiatric patients. She has even assisted with the delivery of five babies. Sarah—who practiced at hospitals in St. Louis, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee, before becoming a traveler—says her experiences in Nome have been markedly different. When she first came to NSRH, she was given a formal orientation. Then, not only did she learn about a number of specialty areas, but she also learned about the locals and their customs.

The Native culture

"Alaska Natives tend to be a quiet people who often communicate through facial expressions," explains Sarah. "A raised eyebrow, for example, means 'yes,' and a frown means 'no.' In addition, many of the Natives will not look healthcare professionals directly in the eye when communicating with them because it's a gesture they consider to be rude."

Thankfully, language barriers have not been a problem for Sarah. While a lot of the residents speak Inupiaq and/or Siberian Yupik, most, with the exception of some elders, speak English, too.

There is a prematernal home located near the hospital, where women from outlying areas come to live during the last 4 weeks of their pregnancies—especially during the harsh winter weather—to ensure optimal prenatal care and delivery. Sarah relates that the nurses at NSRH are sometimes called in to help with their care.