Blake was placed as a Junior Doctor in Gladstone, Queensland. Read on to learn about his experience of working in Australia and how Head Medical helped him find the right role and destination. 
After progressing consistently since schooling age through A-levels, University, foundation years and an FY3 year in surgery in the UK; I decided that I wanted to gain some experience abroad and potentially look at moving to Australia for good. I contacted Head Medical and Leona, specialist recruitment consultant for Junior/Middle-Grade doctors in Australia, immediately knew of an appropriate region. Given my preference for surgical specialties (as this is the direction in which I wanted my career to head), I knew it would be difficult to source a surgical job at the appropriate level in a state capital in Australia, as these are highly competitive.
Head Medical were able to assist with obtaining an interview. Once I had been given a job offer as an RMO (the equivalent of a junior SHO in the UK), they facilitated completing all of (and there was a lot!) the paperwork and requirements to obtaining registration with the medical board AHPRA and the visa itself (for both myself and my non-medical partner). This process is quite a complex one and Head Medical certainly helped keep things orderly along the way.
Once we arrived in sunny rural Queensland, in a small city called Gladstone, we had free accommodation provided with all the necessary amenities whilst we found our own rental. I felt immediately welcomed by the hospital staff at Gladstone Base Hospital - which is a small 50-80 bed hospital.
Since I have been here, I have gained a promotion to Surgical Registrar. The job is perfect for me as it’s enabled me to have several theatre lists a week (that I would wait years to have back home), on-call rostering where I am making challenging yet rewarding decisions on a non-resident on-call basis, and improve my overall knowledge of surgical management far quicker than I would have done back in the UK. The hospital provides a great level of supervision which is one of the perks of a hospital with few doctors and a relatively high patient turn over.
My increase in salary now that I'm a registrar is more than our joint income back home, not to mention our cost of living.... we're in a fully furnished 4 bedroom house (down to even the crockery) in an upmarket area now, with a pool and a gym included!
I've enjoyed my first few months so much that I'm looking to apply for a longer visa later this year and will be aiming for Permanent Residence the year after (through regional sponsorship). This will give me the opportunity to apply for the Australian Surgical Training Program in the near future and hopefully start the career ladder here in Australia.
If you're a Junior Doctor looking for a new adventure in Australia, contact Leona Young on +44 (0) 131 240 5265 / leona@headmedical.com today!