Mechanics of an educational exchange.

Rural general practitioners occasionally exchange practices internationally. The process of exchanging is a complicated one, which involves multiple bureaucarcies. Exchanging is not for the anxious or impatient. We exchanged with a family physician in Canada and had to arrange registration, provider numbers and immigration for our Canadian colleague, as well as for ourselves in Canada. In addition, there are many personal details (cars, house, etc.) that must also be sorted out.