kknb2692 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Dear All, New to the forum! I am a GP/emergency doctor in the UK. For a variety of professional and personal reasons me and the family are looking to move to Australia. Professionally the variety of work and the chance to practice medicine more freely are very appealing. There is lots of work availiable as I know doctor numbers are short in Oz. Personally we are a small family and the weather and outdoor lifetstyle is what we are after. WE are looking at areas around Melbourne/sydney/Perth. As a foreign doctor we need to work in areas of workforce shortage. For Perth thats 30minutes from CBD for melbourne and sydney usually 1 hour 30 mins. I was born in the UK and consider myself as english as the next man. However I have indian ancestory and hence am asian in complextion. My wife is the same. English is our first language and we speak it better than most caucasians I know! We are proud of our hertitage but firmly belive that you should adopt and live my the etiquette of the country you live. I say all this because reading posts online etc. we are concerned about day to day life in australia with regard to racism. I've lived in Portsmouth UK when growing up and experienced my fair share of racism and abuse. I had hoped the world had changed and that my kids wouldn't have to suffer the way I did. I know racism is everywhere and that this may sound like a silly question to you all but I wanted to know peoples experiences on the ground. Do you get abuse daily? Are racial assaults common place? In comparison to UK is it much worse? It may depend on where people live but as I know I'll be living on the outskirts of cities are my family likely to experience it more? Again i'm sorry if this sounds silly to some but it is a concern I have had. When I first considered australia I never ever thought this would be an issue. As a doctor I don't see colour. I treat a variety of patients and have always prided myself on not showing any discrimination on basis of race, religions socioeconomic status. Also which areas around an hour east of Melbourne CBD are good for schools family life etc? Similarly for Perth which suburbs around 30 mins outside CBD are considered good for school/kids family? This forum has provided me with a lot of information and I thank you all for helping those of us thinking of moving to your beautiful country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 I think it is fair to say that generally Australia overall is no more or less racist that the UK. You get racists in both countries and racist attacks in both countries. I dont think you will experience any difference in your day to day life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgt Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 yes, its a world wide problem which permeates every culture and land. Whites get racist problems as well as other colours. Staying dignified and not lowering yourself to the same level as well as inculcating into your children the abhorrance of racism is a good grounding.Its also good to give people the benefit of the doubt as some situations can be perceived as racist when they are simply someone having a bad day. Good luck with your move Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozinoz Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 We live in Metro Sydney and the competent Doctors at our local Medical Centre are Indian... the rest are shite to be honest but it is a Bulk Billing place so it is to be expected LOL In Australia we don't refer to Indians as Asians. When we say Asian we are referring to people from China, Malaysia, Thailand etc. So you will find that you will be called Indian here and if you refer to yourself as Asian prior to meeting someone here, people will expect you to be from a different country. I think Australia is very multicultural and if you get someone swearing or honking their horn at you whilst driving, don't take it personally, everyone gets treated the same way on the road ;P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluewaterz Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Hey! I am of Greek heritage and grew up as a child in Syd. Although i did experience a little bit of racism from time to time at school I know that in general none of my relatives who still live there have had anything majorley offensive happen to them. My younger sister on the other hand went to primary school in the UK and had a lot of racial problems that extended to even physical abuse by other students. She is now in Sydney attending her yr 11 and not only has absolutely no problems with anyone but she also has a huge group of friends I think everything comes down to where you end up living... Sydney is multicultural...I would say even much more than London. Therefore u don't experience many racial problems. In the UK on the other hand we lived in a small town of the North where youngsters would drop out of school at 16 and in general English prominently lived there... Racism is pure ignorance and lack of education...As long as you live in a large developed city I highly doubt you will experience much of a problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluewaterz Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 In Australia we don't refer to Indians as Asians. When we say Asian we are referring to people from China, Malaysia, Thailand etc. So you will find that you will be called Indian here I knoww!!! It was so strange for me when I first came to the UK as I too grew up knowing "asians" as the oriental population of Asia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kknb2692 Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 Thank you all for your swift responses! Thats all very reassuring.....I am planning a trip later in the year! I have a few Aussies friends here in the UK who have worked with me they were great...lots of fun. I'm not a very sensitive type I guess I was just worried about my children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 As has been said you wont experience anymore or less in Australia than you experience in the UK, both are multiracial, multicultural countries with a minority of racists unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 There are many many doctors from the sub continent here in Aus, my children's GP is Sri Lankan, my mum's heart specialist is Sri Lankan as is my oh surgeon who did his ground breaking surgery, his oncologist is Indian our eye specialist is British of Indian descent. The GP clinic we now go to has Brit, Indian, Timorise, Chinese doctors all Aussies together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kknb2692 Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 Thank you for all the advice guys.....all very reassuring! Perth and melbourne are my first choice areas. I have to work in areas of medical workforce shortage. I will have more of an idea of where, I actually sit with recruiters. In melbourne for example can someone live in say Hampton and commute to Narre Warren South? It seems i'd be going against traffic as I'd be going out of town when people are coming in. REason I ask is I have friends who live in Hampton who say it is lovely with good schools and I have been suggested work in Narre Warren. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Dear All, New to the forum! I am a GP/emergency doctor in the UK. For a variety of professional and personal reasons me and the family are looking to move to Australia. Professionally the variety of work and the chance to practice medicine more freely are very appealing. There is lots of work availiable as I know doctor numbers are short in Oz. Personally we are a small family and the weather and outdoor lifetstyle is what we are after. WE are looking at areas around Melbourne/sydney/Perth. As a foreign doctor we need to work in areas of workforce shortage. For Perth thats 30minutes from CBD for melbourne and sydney usually 1 hour 30 mins. I was born in the UK and consider myself as english as the next man. However I have indian ancestory and hence am asian in complextion. My wife is the same. English is our first language and we speak it better than most caucasians I know! We are proud of our hertitage but firmly belive that you should adopt and live my the etiquette of the country you live. I say all this because reading posts online etc. we are concerned about day to day life in australia with regard to racism. I've lived in Portsmouth UK when growing up and experienced my fair share of racism and abuse. I had hoped the world had changed and that my kids wouldn't have to suffer the way I did. I know racism is everywhere and that this may sound like a silly question to you all but I wanted to know peoples experiences on the ground. Do you get abuse daily? Are racial assaults common place? In comparison to UK is it much worse? It may depend on where people live but as I know I'll be living on the outskirts of cities are my family likely to experience it more? Again i'm sorry if this sounds silly to some but it is a concern I have had. When I first considered australia I never ever thought this would be an issue. As a doctor I don't see colour. I treat a variety of patients and have always prided myself on not showing any discrimination on basis of race, religions socioeconomic status. Also which areas around an hour east of Melbourne CBD are good for schools family life etc? Similarly for Perth which suburbs around 30 mins outside CBD are considered good for school/kids family? This forum has provided me with a lot of information and I thank you all for helping those of us thinking of moving to your beautiful country. I dont think you'll have any issues mate, so long as you speak English as a first language the patients couldnt care less where youre from. Also word gets around when theres a competent new doc in town, just beware of all the druggies trying to get scripts for oxycodone! If you say no to the first one, the rest will leave you alone, simple as. As a family you'll be fine as well. Aussies on the whole are very tolerant and dont bat an eyelid at stuff like the colour of your skin. Of course there'll be a small number of morons who are racist just like anywhere else and even they might be amenable to change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geraldine Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Thank you all for your swift responses! Thats all very reassuring.....I am planning a trip later in the year! I have a few Aussies friends here in the UK who have worked with me they were great...lots of fun. I'm not a very sensitive type I guess I was just worried about my children. hi there, my OH is a GP and we fly out to Brisbane next week to begin a new life in Oz. My OH was born in Burma but is of Indian heritage. Seemingly we may need to adjust to a new ethnic description... not that it concerns us. We have also wondered about racism but decided we needed to try it and see what happens. If its like the UK then we will be fine. Although our 12 year old when asked by us last week if she had any experience of racism announced that she had.We were shocked as she had never mentioned it . However, our slightly built, demure young lady gave the other girl short shrift so we figured she can fight her own battles. I've been interested in other comments made on this thread and am reassured that we will be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kknb2692 Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 Hey Geraldine...wishing you and your family all the best....it will be great to hear of your experience both in terms of work (husband) and of your family Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 People are just pleased to have a Doctor, in the outer areas of Melbourne there is a shortage. My mum lives in one town on the Peninsula and has to go to another one to see the doc because where she lives the lists are closed. I was told the other day our docs lists are also closed now as so many people were coming in from other areas. Very short of Doctors on the Mornington Peninsula, there are a lot of docs but there are a lot of patients and as its a retirement area more customers than they can cope with. Frankston hospital has ambulances ramped all the time. Its a nightmare there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 My GP is of Indian decent raised in Nothern England, lovely bloke who told me in no uncertain terms that moving here was the best thing we could have done. He's been here a few years now and loves it. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 My GP is of Indian decent raised in Nothern England, lovely bloke who told me in no uncertain terms that moving here was the best thing we could have done. He's been here a few years now and loves it. Good luck. If he'd said that to me I would have looked for another dr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 If he'd said that to me I would have looked for another dr Why? Because you don't agree? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Why? Because you don't agree? Its not his place to be giving out opinions like that. If he'd said giving up smoking was the best thing a person had done, I'd agree, cos its fact. But by him expressing an opinion like that, which can only be down to subjective factors, I'd dismiss him as rude and unprofessional. OTOH, he may have just been picking up on cues from you, in which case, he was being very canny in getting you onside:wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Its not his place to be giving out opinions like that. If he'd said giving up smoking was the best thing a person had done, I'd agree, cos its fact. But by him expressing an opinion like that, which can only be down to subjective factors, I'd dismiss him as rude and unprofessional. OTOH, he may have just been picking up on cues from you, in which case, he was being very canny in getting you onside:wink: or because having discussed the medical condition I went in with he was of the opinion that the new lifestyle I was enjoying in Australia was conducive to a full recovery ( He was correct by the way! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonmitch Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Bad doctor!! Having opinions and engaging in human conversation with his patients. Must get him struck off. Its not his place to be giving out opinions like that. If he'd said giving up smoking was the best thing a person had done, I'd agree, cos its fact. But by him expressing an opinion like that, which can only be down to subjective factors, I'd dismiss him as rude and unprofessional. OTOH, he may have just been picking up on cues from you, in which case, he was being very canny in getting you onside:wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 or because having discussed the medical condition I went in with he was of the opinion that the new lifestyle I was enjoying in Australia was conducive to a full recovery ( He was correct by the way! ) Ah, different context altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Bad doctor!! Having opinions and engaging in human conversation with his patients. Must get him struck off. I didnt say he was being a 'bad doctor', I said in giving a personal opinion, which could potentially cause offence, he is being unprofessional. Depending on the context. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Unlike in parts of the UK doctors are human beings here, not Gods! We are much better off because of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Unlike in parts of the UK doctors are human beings here, not Gods! We are much better off because of it. Eh? In what way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Unlike in parts of the UK doctors are human beings here, not Gods! We are much better off because of it. I must tell my friend that, she says her son is a "just call me god" and we laugh about it because he used to talk about others like that whilst getting up there in god land. Now he has made it lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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