Nelson GP retires after 35 years

After 35 years of looking after Nelsonians, local GP Shaun McKenzie-Pollock is hanging up his stethoscope.

Shaun has been at Nelson Family Medicine for 27 years, and before then spent eight years as a GP in Motueka.

In fact, the 66-year-old has been serving the region so long, some of his current adult patients he delivered as babies.

“I don’t know how that happened, it just snuck up on me,” Shaun says. “That’s the benchmark if you’ve been practicing for a long time. You get a real bond with your patients.”

Medicine is in the blood for Shaun, as both his parents were international doctors.

He was born in India and spent time living in the Middle East before moving to Boston, where his father further trained at Harvard University.

Shaun went on to train at Otago University before completing his junior doctor years at Nelson Hospital.

The father of four met his wife Sharon at medical school and the couple spent time working overseas.

“We were sole doctors in an island called Barra in the Hebrides. That was exciting. Then we were on the east coast of the North Island in Te Puia Springs, a remote area.”

Shaun says he saw a different spectrum of disease at the beginning of his career.

“Rheumatic fever was still around in the east coast, and we saw a bit of tuberculosis, which you just don’t see now.”

They moved to Motueka in 1988, where Shaun worked at Inglis Street Medical.

“We came to Nelson in 1995 to 125 Collingwood St. In that era, doctors tended to be sole practitioners, a corner dairy sort of model.”

Another GP, Andy Dawson, was in a separate section of the practice, so they decided to join forces across the road at 132 Collingwood St.

The practice has grown to nine doctors with Sharon now working in the management side of the business.

“The doctor community in Nelson is often very much homegrown. There’s a lot of people that came right through the system here.”

He also completed post-graduate training in sports medicine and obstetrics and has been involved with sports medicine up to national representative level.

Shaun cut back his hours about two years ago but says retirement was calling.

“I’ve enjoyed every minute of the job, but at some stage you’ve got to look at how much time you’ve got ahead. I’ve got excellent health and I want to have an active retirement. Nothing is pushing me, it’s a jump rather than a push.”

Shaun’s last day is 31 March, but he will stay on to do aviation medicals as he is one of the few GPs in Nelson approved to do them.

“That’s an interest and it's not acute medicine so there aren’t the same stresses. I’ll still get to come into the practice, so that’ll be nice.”

He says he is looking forward to spending more time mountainbiking, swimming, and sailing as well as planting native bush on the family’s land at The Glen, and working on a trapping programme for pest control.

“Our first grandchild has also just arrived, so that’s quite a big thing.”

Shaun says he has been “humbled” by the cards and gifts patients have been dropping off.

“It’s emotional, and I’ll be sorry - I’ve got a real tie to the district. But I would do it all again.”