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Interviews with staff from overseasThe following interviews give a glimpse of some of the qualities, opportunities and costs that make Waikato, New Zealand an attractive place to live and work.
Noleen Wilson, Dietitian, Thames “People back home often think the climate is similar – but they are so wrong”, dietitian Noleen Wilson says. Coming from Northern Ireland she now works at the Thames Hospital on the Coromandel Peninsula.As much as Noleen and her husband love their home country Northern Ireland, bringing up three children under the age of five demanded a move to a country with more options. “You have the odd rainy day here in autumn and in winter but at least it still dries up and you got a reasonably good day. At home once it rains it stays like that for a day or a week or even a fortnight. And then the children can not get out and do a lot.” Noleen and her family arrived in the North Island in early 2009 and they quickly fell in love with their new home. They love the lifestyle and the beaches, because “back home you don’t go to the beach very often and when you do, your hat gets blown off by the wind!” They especially enjoy having the beach just on their doorstep, living out their love for surfing and swimming as well as discovering new outdoor activities. “We like to camp out and hike. And we’ve taken up fishing as well and even caught a few fish. Back home you are more wondering what you could do and here you have so much choice.” Noleen had a good start to her new job. Waiting for registration, she hopes to benefit from a recent change of law that dietitians from the UK no longer have to sit exams to work in New Zealand. Noleen is optimistic to avoid the cost and time consuming process as she meets all the criteria. Her new team made the effort to help the Wilsons acclimatise as easily as possible. “Jacquie Mitchell, the Thames area manager, was very helpful and very pleasant right from the start. She helped me from the time I first equired about the job all the way until I finally accepted the job offer. And when we arrived in New Zealand they had transport to the hospital arranged and provided us with a hospital house, fully furnished and free for the first months.” Waiting for the furniture that arrived nine weeks later by ship was not as hard as leaving friends and family behind, of course. Noleen and her family suffer from home sickness from time to time, but the staff of Thames Hospital greeted the Wilsons like long term friends. “Even before we arrived from Northern Ireland a welcome lunch was planned! It really made me feel part of the team. The morning we arrived Jacquie Mitchell gave us some grapes from her own garden and the following morning when we started to feel a little bit homesick, Jackie arrived at the door - she had arranged for us to stay over at the backpackers in Rotorua for two days fully paid for. That was another really nice surprise. They could not have been more helpful!” The three young children like their new home so much, they do not want to go back to Northern Ireland. “One of them cried last night when she realised that a certain toy was not here and she wanted to go home and get it. I asked her: When you are back do you want to stay at home? And she said: “No!” She wanted to go all the way back just to get that toy. At first we thought she might be homesick, but no, she was not interested in staying at home.” Charles de Groot, Clinical Director, Midland Cancer Network, Waikato Hospital “I am very confident to say there is no better country in the world than New Zealand to bring up your kids,” said clinical director, Midland Cancer Network, Charles De Groot.Dr De Groot arrived in New Zealand from South Africa with his family in 2003, happy to leave some worries behind. “When you live in South Africa, you become used to living with big security issues. We had an alarm system and burglar bars on every window,” he said. ”And I wasn’t being paranoid, it was just the sensible thing to do. “There were no times when doors were open or unlocked, even in the middle of the day. Here you can leave your front door wide open at night!” However, it wasn’t just security that brought Cape-Town-born Dr De Groot to New Zealand. He wanted to work for a state system and still earn enough money to be able to school his two young children. In the end, the family’s decision came down to the UK, Canada and New Zealand. “And then it was quite easy as I did not want to go to the UK. I spent some time there and the weather was just miserable.” “Canada had some attraction as well but I could not have coped with the Canadian winters and so it was narrowed down quite quickly to New Zealand as the best choice for us.” But even when he had already made up his mind about moving to New Zealand, the Waikato did not catch Dr De Groot’s eye immediately. It was while visiting his sister on a family holiday that he learned about Waikato Hospital and its need for oncologists. Dr De Groot’s sister is a GP who works in Edgecumbe in the neighbouring Bay of Plenty health district, which uses Waikato Hospital for some specialist referrals. “I came and had a look at the hospital and I liked it enough to give it a go. It was not really my intention to find a job in the Waikato – it just happened.” Once their move to the Waikato was determined, the hardest part was already over. “Work-wise it was extremely easy for me to fit in. I think in medicine in general the biggest challenge for a non-English speaking person would be the change in language and not the change in practising,” he said. The family of four now enjoy the Waikato life very much: the two small children can run around without their parents having to worry about security. Dr De Groot’s wife is from the UK and she did not want to move to New Zealand to start with, but now loves their new home. And apart from enjoying his demanding work at the hospital, Dr De Groot can enjoy his passion for outdoor activities. “If you, like me, enjoy driving a motorbike, this place is a heaven. The roads are pretty empty and in some places, you can drive for hours without seeing a car. My major hobby is mountain biking and I can do that all year in the Waikato. Even skiing is available just three hours’ drive away, which is definitely manageable for a weekend trip.” The De Groot family may have found their place in the Waikato by coincidence, but they really like it. “The quality of life is a million times better here compared to South Africa. The longer we are here, the happier we are. I think the Waikato is a fantastic place to live.” Rickard Linder, Cardiologist “We are going back to Sweden … but we really love it here!” Some weeks prior to the departure to his old home country, cardiologist Dr Rikard Linder thought back over the two years he and his family have spent in the Waikato. Being from the Swedish capital Stockholm, with its close to 800,000 inhabitants, Rikard, his wife and their three children at the age of 10, 13 and 15 were looking for something different in 2007. “We looked for a family adventure before our children grow too old. We wanted to see another part of the world.” “We went through an agency that looks for jobs in Australia and New Zealand and we wanted a combination of a big hospital and a not-too-big city – and Hamilton is the perfect spot!” Dr Linder and his wife Susanne, who is also a doctor, found good jobs at the Waikato Hospital in Hamilton, and their New Zealand adventure began. Not only did they have to adapt to a new country but they found their jobs to be different than at home, as well. “It is probably more like than unlike my job back home, but there are certainly distinct differences. First of all the responsibility for the patient here is more personal. And I find that treatment traditions will vary very much from consultant to consultant here. Back home everyone more or less does the same.” To work as a cardiologist in New Zealand, Dr Linder had to overcome some bureaucratic hurdles. As the Swedish health system lacks a big exam like FRACP (Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians) the process of getting recognised can take some time for international health professionals like Dr Linder. To assure the highest level of medical standards careful consideration of new doctors must be taken by the Medical Council. Used to the hectic lifestyle in their home country the family liked the more laid back atmosphere they experienced in New Zealand right from the beginning. “Everything is double busy in Sweden. So a busy day here is like a normal day at home.” The adventurous family of five enjoyed the amenities of the Waikato capital to the fullest. “Hamilton is a very good place because we can commute easily. It is a five to ten minutes drive to wherever you want to go. The climate here is paradise compared to back in Sweden. I bike a lot, we tramp and we try to learn how to surf and I jog a little and swim. And we love skiing of course.” Asked to compare the cost and standard of living between Sweden and New Zealand he came to a clear conclusion. “It is cheaper here. The cars are extremely cheap and the petrol is very cheap, too. Food is much cheaper here, I think. And as a doctor you earn more so the living for us is better here.” “Education-wise I think the school system is pretty much similar although we think it is slightly better here, at least in the schools we have seen.” The family has gone back to Sweden, but Dr Linder would not rule out another move to the Waikato in the future. “If it was not for the family and friends back home it would be an easy choice to stay in the Waikato. It is absolutely possible that we will come back in the future to live and work in New Zealand again,” he said. “It is a very good place to live!” Annette Van Zeist-Jongman, Forensic Psychiatrist
I was born and raised in the northern part of the Netherlands, Groningen, but the last four years before we went to NZ we lived near Eindhoven. |
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