Any UK doctors who move out here and think going back to uk is better?

[Raeinthesunshine]

Hi there,

I've only been in Melbourne for about two months. Came out from the Midlands. It's about complicated because I have only been in UK for the past ten years although that was for my formative adult years and finishing Med school and working as a new doctor. Prior to that was born and raised in Asia however I identify far more with the U.K. Than I do with Asia.

troubke is family gradually moved out to Melbourne whilst I was away in uk including the extended family. I have always visited for Easter or xmas or whenever I get annual leave as a doctor (which was pleasant but I understand that's the holidays and not reflective of living life) and the constant talk about how things are better over here in Oz and "lifestyle" made me think I should move out here. Initially I had a partner in UK who didn't want to move which made things clear cut to stay in the uk but then we had a traumatic break up in February this year which kind of pushed me towards moving out here plus the whole brexit uncertainty and the nhs junior doctors contract issues, I came out to Melbourne where my family are.

 

I have to say I have not started liking Melbourne or Australia at all since being here. The idea that I have emigrated for good makes me so worried I've made a big mistake. In fact I get so angry and upset with the little things that they lack like flat architecture, boring suburbs that look like they just put on yesterday, **** driving, food that doesn't agree with me (this is surprising given how I follow master chef Australia and Melbourne is always hailed as the food capital and apart from the fine dining restaurants the normal everyday food is just grating for me compared to what's back home in UK), renting is expensive and inconvenient- what the hell with the inspection Windows and the blasé attitudes of realtors, internet speed is slower and much more expensive, mobile contracts are also a lot more expensive, the lack of grocery variety ( I miss tesco and the other grocery chains we have back home and M&S and the ease of having deliveries at a convenient time and cheap prices), having Argos and Amazon and stuff like that with all the goods I want and need at a click and at my door the next day, the feeling of no culture and isolation geographically........ more importantly at work I feel the clinical standards are lesser than in uk and the equivalent grade doctors here are less well rounded or experienced etc. Overall it's been a nightmare because family haven't exactly been supportive with my transition and chastise me for being difficult and to accept that "this is Australia so stop talking about the uk or go back". Making things worse I'm still recovering from haunting memories off my ex and his famous words that Australia is overrated when he refused to move and how knowing me he thinks I would be better suited in uk and Europe and that our training standards are better (he's a medic too)!

 

I am already wondering if I am nitpicking and being "difficult" as my family say I am with my "first world problems" and that its just teething issues OR

that it's actually a gut instinct instead that's telling me I'm not suited here and I should move back to the uk and cut my losses; but then I'm aLeo wondering if it's too soon and how foolish it would look and certainly I can't go back to the Midlands where the bad memories with my ex and his family are and if this is just the rose tinted glasses talking!

 

I would really appreciate some advice/shared experience and if there are any uk doctors on here who actually moved out and even stayed for training etc to give some advice too would be dearly appreciated!

sorry if this is too long for a post- first timer! Looking forward to some responses.

[AJ]

You have managed to find a lot of faults in only a couple of months!

[VERYSTORMY]

I am not a medic, and it would be easy for me to say "give it time" and that would ordinarily by the gist of my response. However, I do wonder about your motives for moving to oz?

 

You have left your partner for the move and I wonder if either you were pressured by family or had unrealistic expectations of what oz is? It is very easy for people in the UK to believe it is some wonderland, to be aspired to. When in reality, it is just another first world country. You have moved from one first world country to another. Some things will be better and some worse and how those bits play in our individual lives will be a big deciding factor in if it is a positive experience or not. But, they are really the detail.

 

Why did did you make the move? What was big enough to get you to leave your partner?

 

Until i I know that, it is impossible to give an opinion on what you should do, but, at the end of the day, you are just a plane ride away from doing what ever you want. It's just a matter of booking a ticket and jumping on a flight.

[Raeinthesunshine]

Thanks for the reply. The break up wasn't about the move at all. The relationship itself broke down, there was infidelity and there was a lot of trauma to put it in short. I did feel the pressure of moving and I did think it was all the hype around the move from the years of talk from my family.

I have to say the funny thing is I spoke to doctors who had moved out here and stayed and went home and the unanimous opinion was that it was a better life for us medics and that none regretted the move and only moved back to uk for family reasons.

So imagine the outrage and shock when I didn't find that to be the case at all. When I got back in touch with some doctors that I spoke with again since the move about the sentiments and impressions I have of the clinical training only did they start admitting to finding similar faults. But none ever said anything negative about the training or standards when I was still back home and making my enquiries.

Alas, it's not just a plane ride back. Doctors training is something you have to plan and apply for and it's completely out of sync with the timeline for Australian doctors training and requirements are different. Not a lot of the checkbox exercises are transferable between one country and the next so I will really need to commit to one place and finish off my training for fear of risking being neither here nor there and prolonging the time I'm on the hamster wheel for.

[Perthbum]

So many people watch "wanted down under" and get a shock when reality strikes.

[tea4too]

I think a traumatic break up coupled with a ‘permanent’ move to the other side of the world is an awful lot to deal with in 6 months or so. Your sense of perspective is likely to be a little out of kilter if nothing else. And I understand why people tell you not to draw comparisons with life in the UK as it’s a bit like picking at a scab. But I sense you are relatively young, free and single, so your life is your own and if Melbourne doesn’t float your boat you don’t have to put a brave face on and fake it until you make it.

 

Give yourself a time frame, work out what you want and where you are most likely to find it, factor in those important career milestones, consider the financial implications and, after your head has done all that work….listen to your heart. Whatever you decide will be the right decision because it will ultimately open up other options and opportunities.

 

And with my tongue firmly placed in my cheek, there is more to the UK than the Midlands -

www.pomsinoz.com/forum/uk-news-chat/245947-moving-better-life-style.html

 

Good luck @Raeinthesunshine, I'm sure you will find your way. T x

[caramac]

I think you may still be experiencing culture shock (along with grieving a horrible break up) and it's quite normal to compare things with those that you're used to, often negatively, when you're emotionally in a bad place.

Being a dr, you're in a good place to transfer location to more or less wherever you want to be, so you don't need to think of this as a forever move. Depending on what level you are in your training or specialty, maybe just think about getting to the next level and re assessing then?

Nothing has to be forever and if you can just enjoy the experience for what it is you might stop comparing everything with 'home' and take what Australia has to offer?

My husband is a senior consultant and has worked in Australia twice and is looking at going back again soon. There are good and bad points wherever you work, even within a country, and standards will vary everywhere. My husband has had positive and negative experiences in every trust and service in both countries, so I doubt the lower clinical standards you're experiencing are universal (although you're right that Drs become consultants earlier and with less experience in Australia - no higher training post specialist qualification, in psych anyway..). A lot will depend on where you're working and which specialty you're in - in some areas Australia will be ahead and others, behind.

 

In the end only you know what you want. I do remember feeling very unsettled for the first year after we arrived, but someone asked me, 'if someone gave you a flight home right now, no strings attached, would you go?'. I wouldn't have and that was turning point for me. What would you do in that position?

[Guest Michaela60]

I think a traumatic break up coupled with a ‘permanent’ move to the other side of the world is an awful lot to deal with in 6 months or so. Your sense of perspective is likely to be a little out of kilter if nothing else. And I understand why people tell you not to draw comparisons with life in the UK as it’s a bit like picking at a scab. But I sense you are relatively young, free and single, so your life is your own and if Melbourne doesn’t float your boat you don’t have to put a brave face on and fake it until you make it.

 

Give yourself a time frame, work out what you want and where you are most likely to find it, factor in those important career milestones, consider the financial implications and, after your head has done all that work….listen to your heart. Whatever you decide will be the right decision because it will ultimately open up other options and opportunities.

 

And with my tongue firmly placed in my cheek, there is more to the UK than the Midlands -

www.pomsinoz.com/forum/uk-news-chat/245947-moving-better-life-style.html

 

Good luck @Raeinthesunshine, I'm sure you will find your way. T x

 

And a lot more to Australia than Melbourne.

[tea4too]

And a lot more to Australia than Melbourne.

 

I wasn't suggesting otherwise :cool: but the OP posted in mbttuk and expressed concern about a return to the midlands, so happy medics in Wales might be of interest :smile: T x

[Guest Michaela60]

Hi there,

I've only been in Melbourne for about two months. Came out from the Midlands. It's about complicated because I have only been in UK for the past ten years although that was for my formative adult years and finishing Med school and working as a new doctor. Prior to that was born and raised in Asia however I identify far more with the U.K. Than I do with Asia.

troubke is family gradually moved out to Melbourne whilst I was away in uk including the extended family. I have always visited for Easter or xmas or whenever I get annual leave as a doctor (which was pleasant but I understand that's the holidays and not reflective of living life) and the constant talk about how things are better over here in Oz and "lifestyle" made me think I should move out here. Initially I had a partner in UK who didn't want to move which made things clear cut to stay in the uk but then we had a traumatic break up in February this year which kind of pushed me towards moving out here plus the whole brexit uncertainty and the nhs junior doctors contract issues, I came out to Melbourne where my family are.

 

I have to say I have not started liking Melbourne or Australia at all since being here. The idea that I have emigrated for good makes me so worried I've made a big mistake. In fact I get so angry and upset with the little things that they lack like flat architecture, boring suburbs that look like they just put on yesterday, **** driving, food that doesn't agree with me (this is surprising given how I follow master chef Australia and Melbourne is always hailed as the food capital and apart from the fine dining restaurants the normal everyday food is just grating for me compared to what's back home in UK), renting is expensive and inconvenient- what the hell with the inspection Windows and the blasé attitudes of realtors, internet speed is slower and much more expensive, mobile contracts are also a lot more expensive, the lack of grocery variety ( I miss tesco and the other grocery chains we have back home and M&S and the ease of having deliveries at a convenient time and cheap prices), having Argos and Amazon and stuff like that with all the goods I want and need at a click and at my door the next day, the feeling of no culture and isolation geographically........ more importantly at work I feel the clinical standards are lesser than in uk and the equivalent grade doctors here are less well rounded or experienced etc. Overall it's been a nightmare because family haven't exactly been supportive with my transition and chastise me for being difficult and to accept that "this is Australia so stop talking about the uk or go back". Making things worse I'm still recovering from haunting memories off my ex and his famous words that Australia is overrated when he refused to move and how knowing me he thinks I would be better suited in uk and Europe and that our training standards are better (he's a medic too)!

 

I am already wondering if I am nitpicking and being "difficult" as my family say I am with my "first world problems" and that its just teething issues OR

that it's actually a gut instinct instead that's telling me I'm not suited here and I should move back to the uk and cut my losses; but then I'm aLeo wondering if it's too soon and how foolish it would look and certainly I can't go back to the Midlands where the bad memories with my ex and his family are and if this is just the rose tinted glasses talking!

 

I would really appreciate some advice/shared experience and if there are any uk doctors on here who actually moved out and even stayed for training etc to give some advice too would be dearly appreciated!

sorry if this is too long for a post- first timer! Looking forward to some responses.

what food are you looking for exactly?

[JockinTas]

Hi there,

I've only been in Melbourne for about two months. Came out from the Midlands. It's about complicated because I have only been in UK for the past ten years although that was for my formative adult years and finishing Med school and working as a new doctor. Prior to that was born and raised in Asia however I identify far more with the U.K. Than I do with Asia.

troubke is family gradually moved out to Melbourne whilst I was away in uk including the extended family. I have always visited for Easter or xmas or whenever I get annual leave as a doctor (which was pleasant but I understand that's the holidays and not reflective of living life) and the constant talk about how things are better over here in Oz and "lifestyle" made me think I should move out here. Initially I had a partner in UK who didn't want to move which made things clear cut to stay in the uk but then we had a traumatic break up in February this year which kind of pushed me towards moving out here plus the whole brexit uncertainty and the nhs junior doctors contract issues, I came out to Melbourne where my family are.

 

I have to say I have not started liking Melbourne or Australia at all since being here. The idea that I have emigrated for good makes me so worried I've made a big mistake. In fact I get so angry and upset with the little things that they lack like flat architecture, boring suburbs that look like they just put on yesterday, **** driving, food that doesn't agree with me (this is surprising given how I follow master chef Australia and Melbourne is always hailed as the food capital and apart from the fine dining restaurants the normal everyday food is just grating for me compared to what's back home in UK), renting is expensive and inconvenient- what the hell with the inspection Windows and the blasé attitudes of realtors, internet speed is slower and much more expensive, mobile contracts are also a lot more expensive, the lack of grocery variety ( I miss tesco and the other grocery chains we have back home and M&S and the ease of having deliveries at a convenient time and cheap prices), having Argos and Amazon and stuff like that with all the goods I want and need at a click and at my door the next day, the feeling of no culture and isolation geographically........ more importantly at work I feel the clinical standards are lesser than in uk and the equivalent grade doctors here are less well rounded or experienced etc. Overall it's been a nightmare because family haven't exactly been supportive with my transition and chastise me for being difficult and to accept that "this is Australia so stop talking about the uk or go back". Making things worse I'm still recovering from haunting memories off my ex and his famous words that Australia is overrated when he refused to move and how knowing me he thinks I would be better suited in uk and Europe and that our training standards are better (he's a medic too)!

 

I am already wondering if I am nitpicking and being "difficult" as my family say I am with my "first world problems" and that its just teething issues OR

that it's actually a gut instinct instead that's telling me I'm not suited here and I should move back to the uk and cut my losses; but then I'm aLeo wondering if it's too soon and how foolish it would look and certainly I can't go back to the Midlands where the bad memories with my ex and his family are and if this is just the rose tinted glasses talking!

 

I would really appreciate some advice/shared experience and if there are any uk doctors on here who actually moved out and even stayed for training etc to give some advice too would be dearly appreciated!

sorry if this is too long for a post- first timer! Looking forward to some responses.

 

Of course it wouldn't look foolish and as another poster mentioned, there are lots of other places to live and work in the UK rather than the Midlands. If you still feel unhappy after a year and you haven't settled then returning to the UK would probably be best for you.

[Guest]

So many people watch "wanted down under" and get a shock when reality strikes.

 

What on earth are you on about PB. Where did the OP say they watched that show and it was a reason for their move. Do you have anything constructive to offer the OP?

 

OP, I think quite a few of your gripes are more minor niggles that many of us experience or feel from time to time, or in some cases, often, after migrating. I think how you adapt or your willingness to embrace the differences and give it a go will probably be the difference. It is ofter easier to focus on the negatives than the positives, especially if your frame of mind is perhaps not in the best place for one reason or another.

 

I miss certain supermarket shopping. Not Tesco or Asda though, Waitrose for me I find the driving pretty crappy but am used to it now and don't let it rile me too often. Apart from when I get my usual weekly knobhead trying to move lanes and in the process take out my car.

 

It doesn't sound like your family have been very supportive and this is probably not helping either.

 

For me, the biggest thing I feel reading what you've said is you migrated for the wrong reasons and so have quite possibly migrated and set yourself up to have it not work out. You migrated off the back of a break up and a lot of hurt, from a place you had been happy and into a move the other side of the world that you were probably not really prepared for or in the right place emotionally to cope with.

 

I'd say there is nothing wrong with returning to the UK if you wanted. But there is also nothing wrong in perhaps giving yourself some time to heal from your break up and to not make another quick decision again until you've given yourself time to properly weigh things up, think it all through and if you really want to in the meantime, to give Melbourne a bit more of a chance and try to approach it from a less negative mindset.

[Petals]

I would say that you came on the rebound from your failed romance and who would not nit pick after that. However you came, so do not compare. For me as a patient I would much rather be treated in Aus than in the UK. We do not have trusts telling us what we can and cannot have. If we need care we get it straight away. Due to my families health issues had a lot to do with the health system. As for training maybe you are in the wrong hospital. My friend's son is a consultant at the Alfred and has several specialties and is much in demand by his peers.

 

Its not UK its Australia and that is it. Not everyone likes piddly little green fields and old buildings and hence we do not have them. Its 2016 not 1886.

 

From my experience in recent times of being in the UK you do get good this and that but depends where you live just like here. If you live in Brunswick you get good internet speed, if you live in Lilydale it will be slower.

 

We found we could not get on line when in the UK we had to drive in to the centre of the nearest town and park to get internet.

 

You need to return and get better.

 

Some people make good migrants others should just stay where they are.

[Thom]

What on earth are you on about PB. Where did the OP say they watched that show and it was a reason for their move. Do you have anything constructive to offer the OP?

 

.

 

 

You have to ask?

 

PB's role here is to try and spread his misery as far as possible.

[JockinTas]

So many people watch "wanted down under" and get a shock when reality strikes.

 

I doubt watching that show had anything to do with the OP migrating.

[BacktoDemocracy]

Hi there,

I've only been in Melbourne for about two months. Came out from the Midlands. It's about complicated because I have only been in UK for the past ten years although that was for my formative adult years and finishing Med school and working as a new doctor. Prior to that was born and raised in Asia however I identify far more with the U.K. Than I do with Asia.

troubke is family gradually moved out to Melbourne whilst I was away in uk including the extended family. I have always visited for Easter or xmas or whenever I get annual leave as a doctor (which was pleasant but I understand that's the holidays and not reflective of living life) and the constant talk about how things are better over here in Oz and "lifestyle" made me think I should move out here. Initially I had a partner in UK who didn't want to move which made things clear cut to stay in the uk but then we had a traumatic break up in February this year which kind of pushed me towards moving out here plus the whole brexit uncertainty and the nhs junior doctors contract issues, I came out to Melbourne where my family are.

 

I have to say I have not started liking Melbourne or Australia at all since being here. The idea that I have emigrated for good makes me so worried I've made a big mistake. In fact I get so angry and upset with the little things that they lack like flat architecture, boring suburbs that look like they just put on yesterday, **** driving, food that doesn't agree with me (this is surprising given how I follow master chef Australia and Melbourne is always hailed as the food capital and apart from the fine dining restaurants the normal everyday food is just grating for me compared to what's back home in UK), renting is expensive and inconvenient- what the hell with the inspection Windows and the blasé attitudes of realtors, internet speed is slower and much more expensive, mobile contracts are also a lot more expensive, the lack of grocery variety ( I miss tesco and the other grocery chains we have back home and M&S and the ease of having deliveries at a convenient time and cheap prices), having Argos and Amazon and stuff like that with all the goods I want and need at a click and at my door the next day, the feeling of no culture and isolation geographically........ more importantly at work I feel the clinical standards are lesser than in uk and the equivalent grade doctors here are less well rounded or experienced etc. Overall it's been a nightmare because family haven't exactly been supportive with my transition and chastise me for being difficult and to accept that "this is Australia so stop talking about the uk or go back". Making things worse I'm still recovering from haunting memories off my ex and his famous words that Australia is overrated when he refused to move and how knowing me he thinks I would be better suited in uk and Europe and that our training standards are better (he's a medic too)!

 

I am already wondering if I am nitpicking and being "difficult" as my family say I am with my "first world problems" and that its just teething issues OR

that it's actually a gut instinct instead that's telling me I'm not suited here and I should move back to the uk and cut my losses; but then I'm aLeo wondering if it's too soon and how foolish it would look and certainly I can't go back to the Midlands where the bad memories with my ex and his family are and if this is just the rose tinted glasses talking!

 

I would really appreciate some advice/shared experience and if there are any uk doctors on here who actually moved out and even stayed for training etc to give some advice too would be dearly appreciated!

sorry if this is too long for a post- first timer! Looking forward to some responses.

I'm going to bring a load of opprobrium down on me but it took me almost 9 years to reach the conclusions you've reached in a few months, also there is an issue of how Australians handle difference.

I have always felt that what you leave behind is as important as what you find in Aus, if you leave behind something that almost works and gives you a lot of what Aus offers then Australia has to give more than just sunshine and I ended up with a lot of your feelings and if you're feeling that now it's unlikely to get better, my only thought is that the NHS is not going to improve in the short term and that may be the one factor that may make the downsides sufficiently bearable.

Another factor that you might want to consider is where staying in Australia would put your future in medicine in terms of seniority should you want to come back in say 5 years after citizenship because in lots of high tech occupations I have seen lots of posters comment how they felt Australia was not quite as advanced as western Europe.

I would emphasise these are my personal observations and I am no medic

[Fisher1]

Hi there,

I've only been in Melbourne for about two months. Came out from the Midlands. It's about complicated because I have only been in UK for the past ten years although that was for my formative adult years and finishing Med school and working as a new doctor. Prior to that was born and raised in Asia however I identify far more with the U.K. Than I do with Asia.

troubke is family gradually moved out to Melbourne whilst I was away in uk including the extended family. I have always visited for Easter or xmas or whenever I get annual leave as a doctor (which was pleasant but I understand that's the holidays and not reflective of living life) and the constant talk about how things are better over here in Oz and "lifestyle" made me think I should move out here. Initially I had a partner in UK who didn't want to move which made things clear cut to stay in the uk but then we had a traumatic break up in February this year which kind of pushed me towards moving out here plus the whole brexit uncertainty and the nhs junior doctors contract issues, I came out to Melbourne where my family are.

 

I have to say I have not started liking Melbourne or Australia at all since being here. The idea that I have emigrated for good makes me so worried I've made a big mistake. In fact I get so angry and upset with the little things that they lack like flat architecture, boring suburbs that look like they just put on yesterday, **** driving, food that doesn't agree with me (this is surprising given how I follow master chef Australia and Melbourne is always hailed as the food capital and apart from the fine dining restaurants the normal everyday food is just grating for me compared to what's back home in UK), renting is expensive and inconvenient- what the hell with the inspection Windows and the blasé attitudes of realtors, internet speed is slower and much more expensive, mobile contracts are also a lot more expensive, the lack of grocery variety ( I miss tesco and the other grocery chains we have back home and M&S and the ease of having deliveries at a convenient time and cheap prices), having Argos and Amazon and stuff like that with all the goods I want and need at a click and at my door the next day, the feeling of no culture and isolation geographically........ more importantly at work I feel the clinical standards are lesser than in uk and the equivalent grade doctors here are less well rounded or experienced etc. Overall it's been a nightmare because family haven't exactly been supportive with my transition and chastise me for being difficult and to accept that "this is Australia so stop talking about the uk or go back". Making things worse I'm still recovering from haunting memories off my ex and his famous words that Australia is overrated when he refused to move and how knowing me he thinks I would be better suited in uk and Europe and that our training standards are better (he's a medic too)!

 

I am already wondering if I am nitpicking and being "difficult" as my family say I am with my "first world problems" and that its just teething issues OR

that it's actually a gut instinct instead that's telling me I'm not suited here and I should move back to the uk and cut my losses; but then I'm aLeo wondering if it's too soon and how foolish it would look and certainly I can't go back to the Midlands where the bad memories with my ex and his family are and if this is just the rose tinted glasses talking!

 

I would really appreciate some advice/shared experience and if there are any uk doctors on here who actually moved out and even stayed for training etc to give some advice too would be dearly appreciated!

sorry if this is too long for a post- first timer! Looking forward to some responses.

 

 

You poor thing. I'm not a medic and I've never lived in Australia but I know homesickness when I see it and you are homesick! It also sounds very much as though you are lovesick and what a horrible combination that is. Even if you haven't done the medic equivalent of running away to join the foreign legion, you are still clearly upset about your break up. These are my suggestions:

 

1. Dismiss what anyone else might think. Or say. You can't live your life in order to please/ impress others. It takes real courage to move out of your comfort zone and even more courage to admit it's been a mistake.

 

2. Put a time limit on it, look on the Oz experience as some sort of weird training course and make up your mind to enjoy it as much as you can. The if you aren't happy ... Leave.

 

3. Look to your career, and don't prolong an experiment if it will ultimately damage that.

 

Good luck!