New Zealand

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raymdc89

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Hey everyone,

There seems to be little talk about NZ, that little country just off to the side from Australia. I'm an international student (Canadian) doing my third year Australian MBBS at UTAS.

I'll graduate 2012, which means I'm pretty much screwed with the whole internship problem that I'm sure everyone knows about. There's actually been quite the media coverage lately with some of this year's graduates going jobless and without the ability to further their medical career.

Anyway - I was wondering if anyone knows if the same problem is going on with New Zealand. I've been trying to look for info about whether they're suffering an internship shortage or not, but I haven't found anything.

Best answers will probably come from NZ med students or interns/reg's themselves, but I'm not sure how many of them use this forum

Thanks

Ray

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Hey everyone,

There seems to be little talk about NZ, that little country just off to the side from Australia. I'm an international student (Canadian) doing my third year Australian MBBS at UTAS.

I'll graduate 2012, which means I'm pretty much screwed with the whole internship problem that I'm sure everyone knows about. There's actually been quite the media coverage lately with some of this year's graduates going jobless and without the ability to further their medical career.

Anyway - I was wondering if anyone knows if the same problem is going on with New Zealand. I've been trying to look for info about whether they're suffering an internship shortage or not, but I haven't found anything.

Best answers will probably come from NZ med students or interns/reg's themselves, but I'm not sure how many of them use this forum

Thanks

Ray

While I'm not a med student myself, I can say that there is a shortage of junior doctors here in NZ from the media coverage about it. I don't really know the specifics but you should probably check out the Medical Council of NZ website (http://www.mcnz.org.nz/).
 
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Hi,

Thanks for your answer.

If Australia provides me with an internship then chances are I will stay in Australia for all of my post-graduate training. I've heard of the unfortunate perception that Australia has of North Americans that leave in the middle of their training to go back to Canada/the US, but I'm not 100% sure if it is Australia's main reason why they do not 'guarantee' international students internships in this country.

All I knew is that Australia is protecting its own citizens and with the shortage they will obviously prioritize that for their own people. I would expect no less from any other country in a similar situation.

You've just graduated and found an internship, along with all your international peers? Then what is the explanation for the media coverage I've read on newspapers and online saying that over 100 int'l medical students in this country had no spot?

At the moment I'm not too focused about money and whatnot. Certainly, it's an important thing, but my main goal is to simply to be able to practice as a registered doctor in this country.

Certainly I will try Canada, that being my back up plan if I fail to get an internship in Australia by the time I graduate in 2012. I have also thought about doing an honors year after 5th year. But I'll have to wait and see.

Thanks anyway

That seems hard to believe, you can find an internship in Australia, it might not be in the best locale, but there are internships. The problem is that most North Americans are a bunch of tall poppies and have some kind of chip on their shoulders. I just graduated and found an internship. I have several friends at USyd who are internationals and all found internships, one of them bunked the country when he found a residency in North America, this is one of the reasons why the authorities do not want to guarantee internships for international students. Personally speaking North America sucks. I have been to both places and btw the US is in the middle of a depression. Also the new health care reform means that the supposedly high salaries that American doctors earn are going to drop substantially, I am also certain the American Dollar will continue to decline steadily in value over the next decade or so.

Physician salaries and lifestyle are better in Australia, particularly because of the weak American Dollar, than in the US or Canada. You work less and get paid well. The average GP income in Oz is much better than the average GP in come in the US or in Canada.
 
A relatively recent article in NZ Doctor stated the government had just increased the number of funded places for last year's starting classes by 60 persons, and has the intention of increasing these numbers even further over the next five years. They are hoping to increase them by as much as 200 places a year. Now this being said, New Zealand currently has the highest rate of overseas trained doctors practicing in all of the OECD and doctors shortages are vast, however when it comes to internship spots this might not be the case. I know this past year there were at least 10 or so "1st year places" at Auckland City Hospital that were filled by non-NZ graduates so I would guess most all the other District Health boards would be similar, but with increasing NZ graduates these spots will most likely go to them. If someone is an OZ permanent resident/citizen, then they are considered on the same level as a NZ citizen/PR and would thus be bidding for the same spots at the same time (Not going for the leftover intern spots like non-citizen/pr people currently have to do, even if they graduated from NZ)
Now if you did your first year in OZ and then needed a job thereafter I know you would have no problem whatsoever getting a job as a PGY2 or above at basically any hospital in the entire country.
 
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