Interview
Heather Leaver moved to New Zealand in August 2009 as a House Officer from the UK. She will be moving to a Surgical Registrar post in June 2010. Read more to find out about her experience in New Zealand...
I'm originally from Scotland and I moved to New Zealand
particularly to seek experience in Plastic Surgery as I wasn't able
to in the UK. I also wanted visit a new country, see new ways of
doing things and from a career front, I wanted to get to know
people in Plastic Surgery in a different country.
I chose Plastic Surgery as it offers a lot of variety in that
you deal with both kids and the elderly. There is also such a
variety in the different types of injuries, from head to toe. Work
load is busy but fun and there is a lot of critical care work
involved which I think is the most exciting part of medicine. I'm
hoping to obtain residency and be accepted into a surgical training
programme in New Zealand.
I've been in Auckland for the past five months where I've
completed an orthopaedics hand run and I'm currently in a plastic
surgery run/burns/HDU at Middlemore hospital.
The orthopaedics hand run was fantastic as I really like hand
surgery. I especially like the bony work but the soft tissue
reconstructions were also amazing. The consultants were all
friendly, helpful and they made sure that I was sorted on the
social front as well! With regards to the burns run, because it is
the National Burns Centre, you get all the burns in New Zealand and
the entire Pacific. I've never experienced burns to the magnitude
you get here. I've gained lots of great experience in practical
clinical settings and doing minor procedures. Overall, it was a
great welcome into the Auckland region.
In terms of teaching, there is dedicated weekly teaching time
for house officers. There is also plastics and a weekly hand
meeting where you review radiology, cases and operations for the
week. On top of that there is daily teaching in clinics, theatre
and acute days are also a major source of learning.
I feel that New Zealand is great for people who are not sure
what to do because everyone is given the option to swap out of a
run, unlike in the UK. I didn't want to go straight into a training
programme as I wanted to get broader experience and I wasn't able
to do that. Other differences I've noticed is that I find the 3
month runs appealing, because you are able to gain experience in
more specialties, flexibility with gaining annual leave and free
meals.
Outside of work I've been snowboarding, climbing, diving and
even clay pigeon shooting! I've visited the Coromandel over
Christmas which was a lovely break. The outdoor life here is just
fantastic; there is nothing you can't do here. On the social front,
there are many gatherings within departments. I found that the
burns team in particular works as a close knit group.
For those who are interested in coming to New Zealand, I would
say 100% do it. I loved working in the UK but it is great to see
and experience the other side of the coin. I initially approached a
recruitment agency but I was told that there were no positions in
plastic surgery hence I contacted one of the surgeons directly who
put me in touch with ARRMOS and from then onwards, everything went
scarily smoothly. What I would like to say is plan early and push
for the specialties you want.