Advice for Doctor's looking to move to NZ

laserlad2010

Hi all,

Firstly - kia ora, or mi wadi, or whatever. I'm day 5 of my expatriate life in NZ (living and working in Hamilton/Waikato Hospital), just wanted to say hello to everyone.

Bit of rumour to keep those docs who are here/thinking of coming here awake at night, apparently the NZ graduate cohort is set to double next year, replicating what the Oz east coast have done and effectively shutting the door to most Irish grads.

Source is a HR boss in Waikato Hospital - seemed apologetic about it really.

Only regret I have about leaving is I left me jar of Ballymaloe relish on the ma's kitchen counter...

pclancy

True. I worked at Wellington Hospital for many years and heard some of the same things. More and more kiwi docs and nurses coming home from the recession in europe is also influencing opportunities for immigrants. Still a huge gap for many specialties and things like sonographers, radiologists, phsyio, social workers etc. There were a lot of Irish accents when I worked there.

How is Waikato hospital compared to where you worked back home?

laserlad2010

where do I start? To be honest it would probably develop into a rant against the Irish Health System which would bore all involved.

Basically from what I can see they have really tackled manpower issues, providing several levels of backup cover ensuring that gaps in the service rarely occur. Compare this to the same workload in IE being shared by 2, 3 or 4 docs depending on annual leave, call etc.

30 days sick leave entitlement? I don't even know what I was entitled to at home - nor would I have taken it except at deaths door.

It seems pretty clear however that the work ethic is not as strong - the number of sick days and the general unionised approach irks me somewhat.

Any Hamiltonians about?

Mrs OBumble

laserlad2010 wrote: »

the general unionised approach irks me somewhat.

Yeah, but it's that unionised approach that got juniour doctors working reasonable hours. 'Tis not so many years ago that they had hours comparable to the ones Irish doctors have.

MrCreosote

I used to live in the 'Tron and worked in Waikato hospital. Big shout out!

Don't worry about the sick days- you'll soon get used to being able to take them, and not feeling like you have to go in and infect everyone when you're unwell! The Irish conditions are the abnormal ones, not the NZ ones.

spunkymunky

I know a few people who work in Waikato hospital. They've been there a while and love it (generally). Loves the hours, the work, the scope for progression. It doesnt seem as regimental as Ireland. No expectation of those mental hours. One lad was even flying about in the helicopter up and down the north island. Fecker would send me pics of ruapehu and the likes!!
Never heard them mention sick leave.

pclancy

I had nearly 6 weeks of annual leave plus unlimited sick days when I worked for CCDHB.

Sweet as. Shame the money sucked at the time.

MrCreosote

If you are in the stairwell on the top of Menzies building in Waikato hospital, and look to the south on a clear day, you can see Mt Ruapehu.

Good at this time of year with the snow on it...

Rosy Posy

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Yeah, but it's that unionised approach that got juniour doctors working reasonable hours. 'Tis not so many years ago that they had hours comparable to the ones Irish doctors have.

This is the reason we moved to nz seven years ago. My OH was just finished his internship and we were expecting a baby. He didn't want to miss the first few years of his child's life. He locumed for a while back in Ireland a few years back and found the nz health system much easier to work in too.