No longer ‘a hamster on a wheel’: New Zealand doc ditches medicine for a truck

As a newly qualified doctor in 1987, Dr Jeffrey Harry Kai Fong found himself working 80 hours a week in the accident and emergency (A&E) department of Middlemore Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, tending to a never-ending stream of patients.

He continued to work long hours until a career switch in 2021.

In his new job, the 60-year-old now drives a 10-tonne truck for a civil engineering firm, delivering construction materials such as pipes and wires to its sites. In a typical week, he works only about 40 hours.

He now makes just one-third of what he used to as a doctor, but the move is all worth it, he said.

“In A&E, they made us do nights for a month. You cannot see your family much,” said the former doctor, who asked to be addressed as Jeff.

Now, he has more time to take care of his 90-year-old father, and visit his two daughters and a two-year-old granddaughter.

In a twist of irony, he has found himself healthier and stronger now that he is no longer working as a doctor.

“I can now lift 40kg and I could not even do that before,” he told The Straits Times.

“A lot of doctors I know are not very healthy and not good role models for their patients. They suggest that patients regularly exercise when they themselves are overweight and do not have the time to exercise.

“Busy people are the most unhealthy people – they don’t have the time to cook healthy meals or even go and exercise,” he added.

Born in Rotorua in North Island, Jeff is a third-generation New Zealander whose paternal grandparents are from China.

Grateful to a kind general practitioner who used to treat his family without charge when he was a child, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his “hero” and studied general medicine at The University of Auckland School of Medicine.

He graduated in 1987 and became an urgent care physician. In 1993, he took over the lease of a failed shoe shop and opened his own accident and medical clinic.

He offered services at a low cost to help those in need. The clinic ran 10 hours a day, seven days a week, but three years later, he had to sell the clinic due to financial constraints.

He went on to work at another clinic before quitting medicine at 58 years old because of burnout.

He said he felt it was sensible to leave the job earlier. “This avoids (me) getting too old, making a horrendous mistake and being remembered for only that mistake rather than my years of service,” he said.

After hanging up his white coat, Jeff got himself a new job as a truck driver.

He said driving allows him to relax his mind.

He appreciates his healthier routine now: He wakes up early, has a good breakfast, goes to work and relaxes for the rest of the day.

The auto enthusiast got himself a truck licence in the same year he graduated from university. He also earned his helicopter licence in the 1990s.

He said: “I’ve also learnt to load my truck with a 14-tonne earth digger. That’s the closest skill I’ve come across that rivals flying a helicopter.”

Jeff now lives in a converted truck trailer in the compound of a home he built for his elder daughter in Northcross. Living a simple and humble life makes sense for him.

“If you can control your material desires and minimise them, life will be much less stressful.

“Switching jobs from being a doctor to becoming a trucker has given me that,” he said, adding: “The people who punch out are truly happy. Instead of being a hamster on a wheel, you can feel free.”