Kia Ora bro, So what field are you currently in that you want to change out of?

- What attracted you to this field? Didn't get into medicine... :P Physio was the next best choice I figured.

- How easy was it finding a job as a graduate (especially in NZ)? If you have not graduated yet, how are you finding the jobsearch process? Its easy as pie, NZ is fortunately still horrendously short staffed and Aussie isn't too bad either, If you want the awesome jobs then you'll still have to compete but there are plenty around. We are getting more and more UK and Irish physio's coming over as they can't find jobs in their country very easily - there are too many of them. So this may change but at the moment we are sitting with a healthy level of vacancies.

- Have you considered working overseas given all the barriers and possible re-licensing you have to go through? And if you did go overseas, how easy/hard was it to re-license? I'v considered it, and yea it's difficult from NZ - unless you have a European passport then it's much easier. If your into VSA stuff then getting into africa, sth america, asia are all easy enough. But like chris said america is hard. The UK isn't too bad, I'm considering doing it, plenty of NZ get registered for the UK so it can't be terrible. We have a tasman exchange thing that means you don't need to register for oz, beauty of that is they pay much higher even when you factor higher living costs. But I love NZ too much to leave.

- What are the best & worst bits of this job? Thats different for everyone aye, You better like the idea of health and people. The best for me is helping people, I love it. The worst depends on where you work. I'v been public in really short staffed hospitals and the worst part in that situation was doing the work of the nursing staff because they were too understaffed to do it and having to comprimise my practice by doing very short treatment sessions due to time constraints.

- What are the key skills required for this job? Communication

- Do you have to carry out postgraduate studies? If so how does it help you progress? You don't have to - there are alot of opportunities to however it tends to help to have them if you want to travel overseas otherwise most people will eventually do some form of diploma or accreditation but it's not required.

- Where do you see this industry going? More Autonomy and likely masters and doctorates in physiotherapy eventually being offered (this is being pushed by the americas and likely the world will follow)

- What has been your greatest achievement? Any regrets? Theres the odd patient that you see that you'll manage to get from being dependant to being independant and thats always a really good feeling. Not many regrets to be fair.

- What specialization are you in? When did you decide on the specialization? No true specialty - Have been working Public for a while now, but have also locummed privately. Specialty is probably is muscoloskeletal work, but I didn't decide to do that, it's just the way my brain is geared and what I'v done most of.

- What is the pay like? (In relation to the country, public or private practice, specialty) and what (if any) are the perks? NZ is poorly paid all round in comparison to other countries. Certainly private pays more than public but it will depend what kind of contract you are on, I'v earned more in public because in private I was on per patient contracts and didn't get enough patients.

- Have you started working in a private practice? Yes

- Have you had experience working in the DHB/NHS? Yes

- Which is better private or public? Go Public first - In NZ we are often the first person to see the patient in private and as such it's our responsibility to screen the patient for conditions which can mask themselves as muscular problems, by entering the public system first you get a more rounded knowledge of common medical presentations and will become a far better therapist as a result.

- After how many years, in your opinion, would you open your own (share a) private clinic? When I felt confident to do so. I have friends who have considered this at 2 years, it's not my style I think I'd undertake postgraduate study and get more experience, if I had to put a number on it I'm guessing year 5. Going into partnership is a good idea especially if the other person has alot of experience, it's a good idea to have the ability to bounce ideas off another person to keep you sane and challenge you to provide better treatment.

Have a good think about Physio - theres alot more to it than private practice, there is a huge public sector. Be sure about your decision as it's a big one. Make sure you investigate other jobs as well (OT, SW, SLT, Dent, Med, Nursing) and see what the perks are and what they offer. Private physio is a great lifestyle job, but can take a period of time for you to earn the wage you feel that you deserve - This depends on how much you think you deserve though I suppose.

Have a Good Day,
Pudding