Dr Ahmed Giaziri BDS (Dublin), Wollongong and Parramatta, NSW
Previous job in the UK
After graduating in Dublin I returned to London and for 7 months I worked in the NHS system for a private practice in Slough (just outside London). Due to the low socio-economic demographic of the area the work was made up of 90% NHS work. I was seeing about 30 patients a day between 9am and 5pm and was not being well paid for my time. By the time I got home every night, I was exhausted.
After 7 months of this kind of work, I changed to a practice in Croydon (South London) which is a slightly nicer area. I worked there for 12 months on a pay per treatment fee.
What made you decide to come out to Australia?
In 2006, the NHS reformed their remuneration system and new graduates in the system like me were paid a lower figure than before. I felt underpaid and undervalued and burnt out from my two experiences working for the NHS so I started looking around for alternatives.
I always had in the back of my mind to come out to Australia so this change brought in by the NHS gave me just the push out the door that I needed. So in 2006, my friend and I went out to Australia on a working holiday visa for a year.
Where did you travel in Australia?
I was able to find some locum work through DJS and working and travelling around Australia as a dentist was a great experience.
We did 6 months working in Wollongong- a coastal town not far from Sydney and then travelled around Australia. We went to Adelaide, through the outback, up into Cairns. Even stayed a cattle farm larger than the size of Belgium!!
What came next?
I went back to England in early 2007 as I had plans to get married. I was going to give work as a dentist in England another try. Despite my hopes to find private practice work similar to the work I did in Australia, the recession had just started, so my options seemed to be limited to the same NHS work I had left behind a year ago.
After being in Australia, I had no desire to go back to work in the NHS like I had before. It was doom and gloom regarding the weather and finances and to be honest, I found it all a bit depressing. So I spent 6 months planning our weddings (one in Libya, one in London) and organizing my ticket back to Australia. I was in contact with DJS, who helped me a lot with all the immigration stuff and even organized my 457 work visa.
Where do you work now?
I now work for a relatively large company that runs many practices mainly in NSW. I work in two of their practices in Wollongong and Paramatta and have great experiences in each.
How does the work differ between Australia and the UK?
In Australia, instead of 90% NHS work, it is 90% private. The fees are much higher, which allows you to spend more time doing each treatment and improving your quality of treatment. Also, because treatment is a private agreement between you and the patient, there is less third party involvement in each decision. Much less bureaucracy and more clinical freedom.
I see between 12 and 15 patients per day, which is quite a high number by Australian standards. But to me, based on my background this is quite relaxed.
What else do you like about living in Australia?
Above all else, I love the summers here. I can spend a whole day on the beach. Then in 20 minutes I can be in the city. I never take this fact for granted. I travel to Wollongong for work and travel through Stanley National Park. It is all so beautiful and so much to do outdoors. The more time I spend outdoors, the healthier I feel.
So, not only is my income much higher working here but because I am always outdoors, I am not really spending the money as much.
There are 12 million people living in London which is a space approximately the same size as Sydney, which holds 4 million.
In England, you have to work hard to get a good work/life balance, but in Australia, you have the beauty, wealth of things to do and sunshine provided on your doorstep. This is the big difference for me.
Ahmed is now a permanent resident of Australia and plans to stay a while, or perhaps forever.
