Moving to Australia..

[Dr Smith]

I never knew these forums existed until a colleague recommended that I have a look so thought I would post my current thoughts to see what you think...

I have been thinking intently over the last few months about moving to Australia, and I believe I have now reached my conclusion. With the uproar about the junior doctors contracts I have given up hope on the BMA now and Jeremy Hunt seems to have no idea what he is doing to begin with let alone the consequences of his actions.

I am so disheartened with the fact I feel the need to leave the NHS. I find it really difficult to comprehend the fact that they are so un-supportive of the hard work we all do. The press has made it out like we are all greedy money suckling gremlins, when the reality is so different.

With that, I have been looking in to some options to see if it is feasible for me to be able to work in Australia, and much to my surprise its a lot easier than I thought. The prospect sounds amazing and although I am sure it has been jazzed up to sound like something phenomenal, it really does sound great, and some of the areas that I could get a posted in look amazing.

Unfortunately for the time being my career in the UK is being postponed. The only reason I wanted to post this is I know a lot of you out there will be having the same thoughts as me. I am glad I summoned up the courage to ask about other options and I do not regret this one bit. My contract in Queensland starts in February 2016, I am counting down the days. 74 days left until my one way ticket on the 15th February.

I went through a few different agencies to see what the best options were but ended up going with Global Medics as they kept in contact with me and helped with everything. I would advise using this company as a few other agencies I used didn't really help and I had to chase a lot for the information I needed. If you want to know more email [email protected] - this is lady that helped me with the details, I am sure she would be happy to help anyone else looking too. Good luck to everyone staying with NHS...

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[bashwell]

I never knew these forums existed until a colleague recommended that I have a look so thought I would post my current thoughts to see what you think...

I have been thinking intently over the last few months about moving to Australia, and I believe I have now reached my conclusion. With the uproar about the junior doctors contracts I have given up hope on the BMA now and Jeremy Hunt seems to have no idea what he is doing to begin with let alone the consequences of his actions.

I am so disheartened with the fact I feel the need to leave the NHS. I find it really difficult to comprehend the fact that they are so un-supportive of the hard work we all do. The press has made it out like we are all greedy money suckling gremlins, when the reality is so different.

With that, I have been looking in to some options to see if it is feasible for me to be able to work in Australia, and much to my surprise its a lot easier than I thought. The prospect sounds amazing and although I am sure it has been jazzed up to sound like something phenomenal, it really does sound great, and some of the areas that I could get a posted in look amazing.

Unfortunately for the time being my career in the UK is being postponed. The only reason I wanted to post this is I know a lot of you out there will be having the same thoughts as me. I am glad I summoned up the courage to ask about other options and I do not regret this one bit. My contract in Queensland starts in February 2016, I am counting down the days. 74 days left until my one way ticket on the 15th February.

I went through a few different agencies to see what the best options were but ended up going with Global Medics as they kept in contact with me and helped with everything. I would advise using this company as a few other agencies I used didn't really help and I had to chase a lot for the information I needed. If you want to know more email [email protected] - this is lady that helped me with the details, I am sure she would be happy to help anyone else looking too. Good luck to everyone staying with NHS...

Thanks @Dr Smith, nice post. I'm in Australia (Sydney) and heaps of physicians from the UK as well. I know it's just anecdotal but all the ones I've met (every single one!) have told me how much they love it in Australia compared to working under the NHS.

 

[Dr Smith]

@bashwell I thought this may be the case. I also spoke to a friend of a friend who told me to go for it, and not look back. I thought harsh words at the time but now I understand why. Would you definitely recommend going?

 

[bashwell]

@bashwell I thought this may be the case. I also spoke to a friend of a friend who told me to go for it, and not look back. I thought harsh words at the time but now I understand why. Would you definitely recommend going?

Hmmm it's a really personal decision to move entire nations and in fact hemispheres, etc, and I don't know much about what your motivations and goals are, but ultimately only you know what's best for yourself.

Maybe consider what's the source(s) of your uncertainties or doubts about going? Fear of the unknown, leaving behind family and friends, etc? Then speak to someone you trust and knows you well about your doubts about going, and see if they can help?

However, if it were me, I'd take it as a great opportunity to explore a new place, meet new people, learn about how things are in Australia in comparison to UK. You say it's a one way ticket, but can't you go back to the NHS if you really find you don't like it in Australia for whatever reason(s)? If so, then it could be worth it just for the experience of a different healthcare system, again exploring a new nation if you've never been Down Under, etc. Qld is beautiful too!

I don't know what you'll be doing (e.g. resident staffing a regional ED), or what specialty you're interested in, but just speaking generally it could be a lot of fun. In addition many specialties are becoming competitive, so people are spending more time to improve their CVs, so this could be a good thing as well if you use the time wisely.

Hope that helps somewhat...

 

[Lucrezia]

@bashwell I thought this may be the case. I also spoke to a friend of a friend who told me to go for it, and not look back. I thought harsh words at the time but now I understand why. Would you definitely recommend going?

Hi Dr Smith,

I'm an Australian medical student and I would advise that you go over to Paging Doctor (it's an Australian forum for medical students and doctors) and ask this question there - there are dozens of practicing doctors on that forum (from intern all the way up to consultant level) and they will be able to answer your questions a lot more confidentially than most people here can. Even though this is an Australasia board, most of the people here are American students who plan to go back home to the US to practice.

I would just caution you that Australia is known for using foreign doctors here on special employment visas as rural medicine fodder - sent out to all manner of dreadful places to fill our rural doctor shortage. But that's just an impression I have garnered and I'm not 100% confident of its factual basis, and you may be under a completely separate contract, I have no idea of your exact situation - best to ask on Paging Dr.

pagingdr.net/forum/

 

[pitman]

I'm an Australian medical student and I would advise that you go over to Paging Doctor (it's an Australian forum for medical students and doctors) and ask this question there - there are dozens of practicing doctors on that forum (from intern all the way up to consultant level) and they will be able to answer your questions a lot more confidentially than most people here can.

Are you sure you mean confidentially? Confidently? Though I'm unclear as to whether it'd be more helpful to talk to more Australians or IMGs about this. Surely both.

 

[Lucrezia]

Are you sure you mean confidentially? Confidently? Though I'm unclear as to whether it'd be more helpful to talk to more Australians or IMGs about this. Surely both.

My apologies I did indeed mean confidently, it was a typo. I suggested Paging Doctor because there are quite a few consultants on there who are involved in administration and are well versed in the terms of the various contracts, including those allocated to internationally trained doctors. Not to mention we have a few Australian IMGs over there too, who would have gone through a similar process as OP.