Dr Emma Burgess BDS who is living in Adelaide, South Australia

Graduating university:

Birmingham University, UK

What made you consider coming out to Australia?

I really just wanted a change and wanted to get away from the UK. My sister is a doctor and was also working in Australia so I visited her and fell in love with it. While I was visiting her in Sydney the one time, she was offered a job in Adelaide, so we went down to Adelaide to check it out and thought it was a good place to live. That was over 4 years ago and I have been here 3.5 years and we both live nearby in Adelaide.

What has been the process to move to Australia?

I moved out to Australia independently using an immigration agency. They rang practices and organized interviews for me for when I came out for a visit. The work was a couple of days each week in the country and a couple in the city. The dentist sponsored my visa and I moved to Adelaide. It seemed perfect.

The only downside was that I was unhappy working at the practice due to the high turnover of staff and I didn't realise that it would be hard to change practices.

I was incredibly lucky I stumbled onto DJS and they arranged to sponsor my visa and find me new work. I didn't realise it at the time, but you are much better to go to a properly set up agency like DJS, because you have the flexibility to move practices. So much can go wrong - you might not be happy with the practice, the dentist, the city etc and if you have issues, you are able to change, you are not forced to move back to the UK, as I would have been had I not found another practice/company to sponsor me.

What was your previous job in the UK

I previously worked in a private practice in the Midlands, which was fine, but living and working in the UK had gone a bit stale for me and everything was the same. I just wanted to shake it all up... In my experience, private dentistry has been the same wherever you go (I have also worked in Portugal).

The only real difference is that in the UK, the English have a NHS mindset. They don't expect to pay for dentistry. There is still a huge mental hurdle to get people to invest in their own mouths. But over here, people expect to have to pay for their dentistry.

Where are you working now?

I work in Crossroads Dental Care in Adelaide, in the western suburbs. The practice is close to the beach and close to home. It is a family practice and is set in a suburban area with a friendly team and friendly patients. It is a great place to work.

I live one street away from the beach, so in the summer, I am home by 6 and am able to head to the beach for three hours until sundown and you can also go in the morning, you just wouldn't get that in the UK.

What else is different to the UK?

Generally, people have a more positive attitude. More of a can do attitude; people are willing to try things and have a different mental outlook. It really suits me better.

There are also more opportunities for sport because of the weather. There is more outdoor living, less time spent in the house and much more time outside. The area I live in is very social; there are cafes lining the beach and all the cyclists come down early every morning. It is generally a much more healthy, outdoor lifestyle, yet it only takes 30 minutes to get to the city of Adelaide. You have everything at your doorstep.

What are your plans?

I would like to stay. I have my application for permanent residency in at the moment. I am hoping it will come through before my current visa expires. I have no desire to go back to live in the UK at all.