Jobs for Nurses in New Zealand : Jobs for Doctors in New Zealand

My wife and I had been speaking to each other for quite a long time about the medical care situation in the United States. We were not very happy with the influence that money had on medical care. We were also under the impression that New Zealand was quite a spectacular place to visit and perhaps live and that the medical care system was significantly different than the United States. I had been looking for some time for another position. Then, one day, I came home from work and talked to my wife about taking a vacation to New Zealand. I got on the internet, and started looking at possibilities in New Zealand. Somewhere, I saw advertising for pathologists to work in New Zealand. I spoke about this to my wife and she said 'go ahead and look into this'. This was approximately April 2005. I found some of the Web sites for some of the health districts which were looking for pathologists and applied. However, I received no interest. We became aware of a web site for expatriates living in New Zealand.

Mr. Terry Murphy, any individual associated with this web site, suggested that I contact Prudence Shaw, a health care recruiter of whom he was aware. So, I contacted Ms. Shaw. About May 2005 Ms. Shaw gave me a call. She asked if I was still interested and I told her yes. She accepted my resume and apparently put it into a form which was more conducive to New Zealand employers. Within two weeks, I had two or three job offers.

By the end of May, we had made a trip to New Zealand. This was a whirl wind trip of only ten days. However, we found new Zealand delightful. All the people were very friendly and helpful. Of course, New Zealand is known for its beauty. We found those small communities in Auckland very intriguing. There were many little cafes and shops.

People could sit out for lunch. It felt like being in Europe. Then, we went on to Christchurch to meet Ms. Shaw. We had a wonderful time meeting many other individuals in the same circumstances as immigrants to New Zealand. We stayed in a beautiful hotel right on the city square. Ms. Shaw helped us with some banking accounts and medical licensure details. We were ready to begin our immigration to New Zealand. I neglected to say, my interview in Auckland went well, and we had decided to accept the position.

So, the next page of our journey began. We had to finish all the immigration requirements before my birthday in August. I was turning 56. This was the deadline for immigrating to New Zealand as a skilled migrant. With Ms. Shaw's help, we worked hard on the paperwork, got our physical exams, and our X-rays finished. We submitted our paper work. Within a few weeks, we received our visas.

Also, New Zealand has strict requirements in regards to animals coming to New Zealand. Dogs must have rabies testing. Therefore, we immediately went to our veterinarians and began this testing. Then, we have to wait four months before the dogs can come over. Due to my work situation, I came to New Zealand at the end of August. My wife has stayed behind until the dogs can come and our house is sold. So far, I have found New Zealand everything that I wanted it to be. All of the fellow pathologist at work had been friendly and helpful. On my first day, my new landlord took me to the store and helped me get settled.

I have found the transition to life in New Zealand quite easy for an American like me. The driving has been an adventure, otherwise, there have been no other problems. I am now awaiting my wife's arrival to show off this wonderful country.

Accent Case Studies:

Stephen Bechdolt, Pathologist from America