Brazilian-born Dr Marina Parente may get a real taste of Christmas Day in Dubbo if she doesn't have to go to the aid of injured or sick residents of rural and remote Western NSW.
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Dr Parente, a retrieval registrar at the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) Dubbo Base, is on call this Christmas Day but because it is a public holiday she does not have to go into the base unless needed.
While her focus on the day will be responding "as quickly as possible" to a call-out, Dr Parente may take up the offer of a fellow RFDS doctor and friend to join Christmas Day festivities in Dubbo.
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"I do have a friend, one of the other doctors at the RFDS, who is opening her house to the rest of us who do not have family in Australia," Dr Parente told the Daily Liberal.
"So I might stop by with the gear in the car and spend some time with her if nothing comes up."
I do have a friend, one of the other doctors at the RFDS, who is opening her house to the rest of us who do not have family in Australia.
- Royal Flying Doctor Service retrieval registrar Dr Marina Parente
Dr Parente takes working on Christmas Day in her stride, having done it "many times" before.
In 2018 she spent it working in the Emergency Department of Dubbo Hospital.
The year before, she experienced her first December 25 in Australia with friends in Melbourne who treated her to a "traditional Polish Christmas".
"I guess the basics of Christmas are always the same," Dr Parente said.
"It's family getting together, sharing a meal, that's what we had back home."
Dr Parente's family may be far away but people in Dubbo have made her feel like she belongs here.
"I'm so happy in Dubbo," she said. "We've made good friends in the RFDS and outside the RFDS.
"I feel very well taken care of by the organisation as well. They were very welcoming to me and my husband."
Dr Parente hopes she won't get a call on Christmas Day because "it means someone else's Christmas is not going very well".
She has joked about being on call on Christmas Day because she "must not have been a good girl this year".
"But it's just how the roster goes and sometimes it will be your turn," said Dr Parente, who has worked as a doctor for 10 years.
She has one wish for Christmas and New Year.
Dr Parente wants the community to head to the base and enjoy its RFDS Visitor Experience.