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Hi
Very helpful thread!!i am just beginning looking into doing physio in australia or NZ but dont knw where to start looking!!!is there any helpful sites u could direct me too about getting registared especially limited reg which i think is the route i want to take??
Cheers
Mairead
Hi all. This has been a really useful thread for the limited registration process as its a bit of a minefield!I'm a band 6 physio currently working in London and hoping to work in Australia (ideally Melbourne) on a working holiday visa via limited registration in the public interest. I wondered if anyone who has done this had any tips on when/where to look for jobs. Im hoping to be there this Oct/Nov and wasn't sure when I need to start looking. I notice that they use 'grades' to rate experience in job adverts and I wondered if anyone knew which australian grade is equivalent to which UK band...any info much appreciated!
rosy
I didn't have any luck getting limited registration sorted. I am living in Melbourne though and there's so many physios around here that it just doesn't make sense for employers to really offer it as an option (particularly if you're coming on a working holiday visa so can only work for a max of 6 months with one employer).
Once you're registered it's quite easy to find work (I went the NZ route, tedious and a little expensive but definitely worth it), most of the locum work is in the private sector. Nursing homes are always looking for people and pay pretty well and private practices pay VERY well compared to the NHS so even workign a few days a week can be enough if you're ata good one. I've worked in a few places (private practice, nursing homes, on site workers) and am about to start working for a public hospital. The public hospital jobs don't come up too frequently but they are about. The biggest ones are The Alfred (who normally do all their own advertising and recruitment) and St Vincents (who normally get recruitment agents to fill their locum posts). I worked as a band 6 for a few years in London and am paid as a grade 2 over here. Hope this helps, if you want any more specific info just ask!
hi cformby..thanks so much for taking the time to answer..really useful info. congratulations on making it over there! i had been wondering how employers would view physios coming over on limited registration especailly with the supervision and paperwork that theyd need to do..but id seen a few posts from people saying there was work and the ACP had said there was a shortage of phsyios so i was hopeful! but good to get an idea of the current climate from someone who's there. how long ago did you do the nz registration...i looked into that but saw on the application form that there's a section on intention to practice in nz..did you spend anytime working there or did you head straight to australia? i suppose if you go through that route you need working holiday visas for both australia and nz?
thanks
I began getting my registration about this time last year and it eventually arrived in November! I can't blame the NZ board entirely though. At first I had it returned to me as I didn't have enough evidence for the neuro part of the application (make sure your evidence fits the EXACT criteria, I had been working as a band 6 neuro physio for over a year but part of my evidence didn't fit the criteria, although it showed what I can do it didn't show that i was at the level of a new graduate - when I spoke to the board they said despite me proving I was above the leve of a new graduate I had to prove I was at that level instead). I then resent the form but as a new tax year had started the form had changed (by one tick box) so i had to go back to have a lawyer sign the new copy etc and repost it (although I did get this done in Ecuador while travellinng adn the Ecuadorian post lost it, then the Colombian post had the same problem and bad luck so did the Guatemalan post so my Mexican version eventually arrived 3 months later!). Once all the evidence was received it was a pretty easy process.
Under the visa part I wrote on the form that I would be submitting an application for a working holiday visa once i had registration (an Aussie recruitment consultant advised me this was acceptable) and as for working in NZ I plan to head over there for a couple of months for the ski season so I wasn't really lying. There's definitely a few physios over here that have no intention of ever going to work there though adn they haven't had any problems. My advice would be to send the application sooner rather than later before the loop hole is closed if you don't actually plan to work there (but of course you will be planning to work there and wont be providing false information right? ;) )
I headed straight to Aus and don't have any sort of NZ visa yet but will probably be getting one over the next couple of weeks.
In short, it can be a lengthy process but it's quicker than the Aussie exams, it is expensive (NZ application fee, NZ registration fee, NZ certificate fee, AUssie application fee, Aussie registrtaion fee, Aussie personal indemnity insurance, the list goes on....) IF you were just thinking of coming here for a couple of months to supplement your income while travelling, don't bother. You'll spend more than you'll earn but if you want to work it's a great place. The wages are much better (but the cost of living is high), the Aussies are great and it's a really good environment to work in.
Hope this helps. Let me know if there's anything else you need help with.
hello, ok i think i'm going to go down the nzroute! ive been going through all the application info and i'm in the process of contacting my uni to get the info i need from them about curriculum etc..theres a section on confirmation of supervised practiced and i wonderd if you sent copies of your placement booklets or if you just got your uni to write a statement about what was covered? also..i didnt actually do a respiratory placement at uni and although i did a junior rotation and im oncall..given what you said about proving youre at newly qualified level i was worried this might be a bit of a problem!
thanks again for your help
My uni syallubus covered my placements in sufficient detail so I didn't send any of my placement books (unless I was using them as supporting evidence). By gaining your degree it means that you've covered all the areas of supervised practice outlined in your course syllabus.
I'm sure you'll be fine with the respiratory aspect. Remember NZ do do a 4 year degree so their respiratory modules will be a little more in depth than ours and from memory nothing done as a junior will mean that your appriasals wont cover the NZ competencies. I'd spent quite a while working as a band 6 in neuro before applying so think that's more what the problem was. I used my oncall competenices and junior experience to fulfil the respiratory part of the NZ competeny and had no problems there whatsoever.
Let me know if you get stuck on anyting else. Probably a good idea to get someone who isn't a physio to check over all of your stuff (I got my mum to do mine), things you think are obvious aren't always and it takes someone who doesn't know what you're talking about to point it sometimes.
great, thanks- that sounds hopeful! ive requested the info from my uni and im currently trying to gather info for the compencies. i wasnt sure exactly the format this should take - i wondered if i need to refer to each competency component separately (eg 2.1, 2.2 etc) or just find stuff that best evidences the competency as a whole (eg competency 2). Also, for rows two and three, when it says 'refer to..' did you just list/bullet point the pieces of evidene or do you need to describe in any way examples of what you've done. i dont know if youd be willing to share an example of one of your competency sheets to get an idea of the format that would be really useful.
thanks rosy
I referred to each competency componemt separately
e.g 2.2 My university course syallbus (page 23) demonstrates........ Further evidence an also be found in my clinical placement booklet (level 3 page 7)
I don't think you have to refer to them all individually but I thought it was worth the extra effort as the board are so strict I didn't want them to return my application for something that i could have done quite easily.
I described each item for rows 2 and 3, again not sure if you need to do this but better to not ahve it returned.
I haven't got a copy of my competency sheets here with me sorry but if you follow the format they're pretty easy to complete, they just take a long, long time (I think mine took about 20 hours to have it all done properly and I still had it returned to me needing more info).
Hi I am a newly qualified physiotherapist and I would like to embark on my physiotherapy career in Australia. Is this realistically viable for a new graduate? Previous posts have suggested that in actual fact the application process to join the APC is catered more towards new graduates, does anyone know if this is still the case? Does anyone have experience of completing the APC written and practical examination? My partner is from Australia and I am considering relocation.
Any help would be much appreciated,
Rudy
As a new graduate you wont be eligible to apply for APC registration. You need at least 12 months working experience before you can sit the exam. I think this is likely to get longer in the near future as a lot of physio schools are moving towards 5 year doctorates so I'd get your core rotation experience sooner rather than later then apply to sit the exam.
From what I've heard about the exam it's very much geared towards the MSK side of thing but not necessarily towards new grads. The failure rate is still quite high.
This is incorrect information. I have recently sat the exam for limited registration and I didnt have a years experience for me to apply. It actually made it a little easier to study for the exam as I was so newly graduated. The exam is very hard though and very very expensive. Get in touch if you would like any information about the exam however I havent received the results yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by cformby
Hi thank you for your response. How was the application process thus far? Have you got the results for the test yet? Would it be possible to contact you via email regarding the exam?
Thank you.