My Name is Rajalakshmi. I am an Occupational Therapist and I came to NZ on 18th Oct 2018 from Mumbai, India.
The process to come to NZ took around 6 months, but once my NZ job got confirmed it barely took 2 months. The easiest part of the process was having Prudence to guide me, the most challenging part of the process was acquiring appropriate information about my visa.
Honestly, there's a huge difference in Occupational Therapy practice in India and NZ. In India, I worked a lot around the medical model in compensatory/rehabilitation frame of reference. Contrastingly in NZ, in my current workplace, it's purely the occupational model. Documentation is immense and in a different format. My hospital experience has definitely helped me in the transition. The fast-paced work in acute hospital setup and meeting discharge timelines has been a carryover from Indian experience.
The biggest difference (and best part) in practice here in NZ is that the grounds for discharge of a patient are not only on medical grounds but focus hugely on functional status and social support, unlike the Indian health care institutions.
For me, NZ was a fairy tale isolated island with mountains and beaches. I haven't travelled much out of Auckland yet but the best part of Auckland is the port. It fascinates me to watch huge containers, ferries and boats. However I do miss my family and the food.
If you are coming from India, have good understanding and acceptance of NZ culture and life style.
The Healthcare system in NZ is too good. Even if it's not technologically very advanced but it’s very efficient in using existing resources.
