My Name is Amy and I am an Anaesthetic technician from the U.K. I arrived here in October 2019 after a three month process.
The easiest part of the process was finding a job! Once I had decided where I wanted to live (not an easy choice to make), Prudence from ACCENT came back with a job interview for me really quickly. The most challenging part of the process was collecting all my paperwork for my professional registration, there was just so much! My advice if you are planning to come to NZ is be organised, there's a lot to do. I had a to-do list and worked through it systematically.
My first impressions of NZ were that the people are the friendliest I've ever met, I came on my own not knowing anyone and I have been so well supported by everyone I have met. The weather currently is also a real highlight as it's summer! The seasonal fruit and veg is also great, I'm sure it tastes better!
There have definitely been a few significant adjustments to make with this move. I definitely miss my family; technology means I can see them but being apart is hard, especially when major life events happen and I can't be there. From what I've seen so far anaesthetic practices are very similar to back home in the UK, but one of the major differences is that there are no anaesthetic rooms here which was an adjustment to my practice. I’m so used to having a space for anaesthetics so it took a while to learn to share the theatre space! However, there are a lot of British workers here that have had similar experiences to me; they understand the adjustment to working somewhere new and that really helped make the transition easier.
Finally I would like to say a huge thank you to my recruiter, Prudence, who helped me get here. She was always on hand to answer my many questions and help me when I needed it. I felt very supported by her on this journey and am very grateful for her help in getting me here. I am loving life here.
