My wife Karola and I are in our late 50's and are looking back at a very eventful and pleasant life in Germany,. Now that our children are capable of caring for themselves we decided to eventually live our own lives. In healthcare things have been changing in Germany in recent years quite dramatically. After training in various hospitals and university hospitals I gained skills and experience in anesthetics and surgery. Academic degrees followed and I am now a university teacher for surgery in Germany and have experience as a Head of Surgical Dept. since 1991. Special skills in different areas of surgery are certified. Doctor bashing by media and politics in Germany encouraged us to think about alternatives. The NHS in Great Britain was in search for specialists. After having cleared all the paperwork I started working at university hospitals in London.
At an NZ job fair in London a locum consultant job caught our attention and Prudence and Helen from Accent Health Recruitment made a great impression with us. They were very supportive with application forms via the internet. Regular phone calls and text messages kept our spirits up despite the sometimes tiring and discouraging steps in the application procedures. We are now in Invercargill and I am enjoying the work at the hospital very much. The range of cases coming up hits my interests and I could do much more if the budgeted health system here would let me.
My wife Karola is planning our free weekends in this beautiful country though she would rather also pick up a job. After intensive paperwork and long waiting we just received our new extended visas and Karola is finally allowed to work in NZ as well.
I imagine if you're reading this, you are considering making a big move to NZ. We did this not so long ago and Prudence thought you might like to know how its been - so far.
It all started from taking a year out in 1995 to travel the world. We (my wife + I ) saw many lovely places on our travels and lots ... MORE
Chris Jackson, Radiographer from United Kingdom
Clinical Nurse Specialist from the United Kingdom