Re-training Access Course - Healthcare Professions

[Captain_Tor]

Hi all

So I have posted a few times in this forum in regards to re-training as my hubby despite working in Oz on temp contracts over the past 7 years on both WHV and temp work visas, we haven't had the chance to make it more permanent as my husband who is an experienced graphic designer but without degree has struggled to get anything more than temp contracts on temp visas and due to him not being educated to degree level we haven't been able to apply to emigrate when graphic designer has been on the skills list.

 It's been a bit a bonkers to be honest as Australian companies pay him a lot of money to work for them including flights and accommodation for 3/4 months at a time but won't offer sponsorship which they could then get the work done more cost effectively. Anyway I digress... 

SO

We have reached a point now where we know we would like our future to be in Australia as it is never far from our minds and I am kicking myself for not re-training sooner but now we feel time is sensitive as we'd like a family etc. and we know for certain that sponsorship for my hubby isn't an option, I have decided to re-train. 

I have just been accepted on an Access to Healthcare course which is 1 year, then I am looking to apply for a 3 year university degree in either Nursing, Midwifery or Radiography. I am still undecided as to which, as I am drawn to each of them for very different reasons but this is something I am now researching and I have a year to make up my mind on which is more suitable and perhaps will give us the best chance at emigrating!  

I'm currently 31, so by the time I qualify I will be 35 (we are also thinking we may try have a child alongside me studying but that's a whole other conversation!)

I know the skills lists are updated all the time and that there is no guarantee that any of these occupations will be on one by the time I am qualified but I would be happy to work in these professions in the UK also so it's a risk we are willing to take as I know my biggest regret would always be not trying to get us to Australia. At least this way I will have at least tried to! 

I guess my main question is can anyone share their experiences of re-training to get to Australia? (and does this sound like a crazy idea?!)

 Thanks 

 

 

[Sunshine80]

Hi Captain,

I was on the board posting reply to something else and saw this.

I work in healthcare and I am a registered nurse.

As visa situation can be unpredictable, even precarious at times do the course that you would enjoy and benefit the most.     

Which ever you choose may not lead to visa in 3  to 5 years time but at least you will a job you enjoy and will be able to get work in the UK.

Nobody can predict the skills shortage and visa criteria can change all the time.

 

[Quoll]

Have you seen the posts on this and other boards about the oversupply of nurses in Australia with new graduates being churned out and unable to find jobs.  Usual advice is to train in something you are absolutely busting to do, not because it might one day get you a visa for another first world country.  

[Captain_Tor]

2 minutes ago, Sunshine80 said:

Hi Captain,

I was on the board posting reply to something else and saw this.

I work in healthcare and I am a registered nurse.

As visa situation can be unpredictable, even precarious at times do the course that you would enjoy and benefit the most.     

Which ever you choose may not lead to visa in 3  to 5 years time but at least you will a job you enjoy and will be able to get work in the UK.

Nobody can predict the skills shortage and visa criteria can change all the time.

 

Yes, thank you. Here's hoping! 

[Sunshine80]

2 minutes ago, Quoll said:

Have you seen the posts on this and other boards about the oversupply of nurses in Australia with new graduates being churned out and unable to find jobs.  Usual advice is to train in something you are absolutely busting to do, not because it might one day get you a visa for another first world country.  

Quoll as is usual is correct.

There are more graduates than jobs at present.

 

[Captain_Tor]

Just now, Sunshine80 said:

Quoll as is usual is correct.

There are more graduates than jobs at present.

 

Seems like this is representative of most of the occupations on the medium to long term skills list at the moment from what I'm reading there are more applicants than jobs for most of professions, why do they remain on the skills list for so long if they don't actually need them? 

My current thoughts in terms of my interests are Midwifery, Radiography, Nursing (Child)...

[Amber Snowball]

Hi, sort of the same but different!

years ago I was a single parent on a council estate, working part time in MFI (yes that long ago! ). I decided my means of escape from a not very bright future was to train in a job that I could use to move to Australia. I did an access to nursing course and it was invaluable for me returning to study. I use returning to study loosely as I barely attended school and left with very few GCSEs.......

I did my nursing, worked for a couple of years, applied for my visa and moved to Victoria. I was there for 13 years and have now returned to the Uk. 

I don’t think it’s a crazy idea at all. It worked for me! My life is unrecognisable now to what it was. 

You sound rational and aware that anything can change in the next few years but that shouldn’t stop you giving it a go!

 I worked bloody hard for what I have now but at least I have something to show for my efforts and had a great experience into the bargain!

Go for it. Might work out, might not but if you don’t try you’ll never know!

[Captain_Tor]

10 minutes ago, Quoll said:

Have you seen the posts on this and other boards about the oversupply of nurses in Australia with new graduates being churned out and unable to find jobs.  Usual advice is to train in something you are absolutely busting to do, not because it might one day get you a visa for another first world country.  

No I haven't but I will take a look...seems like this is the case for accountants, internal auditors, teachers, nurses...makes me wonder why they are all still on the list if the demand has been met or exceeded in these professions. 

I will definitely choose to train in something that I am interested in and that would also work for me in the UK if Aus isn't an option. 

[Captain_Tor]

3 minutes ago, Amber Snowball said:

Hi, sort of the same but different!

years ago I was a single parent on a council estate, working part time in MFI (yes that long ago! ). I decided my means of escape from a not very bright future was to train in a job that I could use to move to Australia. I did an access to nursing course and it was invaluable for me returning to study. I use returning to study loosely as I barely attended school and left with very few GCSEs.......

I did my nursing, worked for a couple of years, applied for my visa and moved to Victoria. I was there for 13 years and have now returned to the Uk. 

I don’t think it’s a crazy idea at all. It worked for me! My life is unrecognisable now to what it was. 

You sound rational and aware that anything can change in the next few years but that shouldn’t stop you giving it a go!

 I worked bloody hard for what I have now but at least I have something to show for my efforts and had a great experience into the bargain!

Go for it. Might work out, might not but if you don’t try you’ll never know!

Thank you so much for your reply.

Your story is inspiring and it sounds like you knew what you wanted and went for it! That is my thoughts exactly, if I don't go for it I will always wonder what if...worst that can happen is I re-train, it isn't on the skills list, so I have a fulfilling career here in the UK. At least I know I will have given it a good shot...

It's nice to hear you did it with a child in tow too, as most people think I'm crazy changing careers at 31 and hoping to have a family at the same time! 

[VERYSTORMY]

I am a bit fan of retraining and people going to uni as adults. I have done it twice. Most recently I retrained as my current profession - geologist. Which has given me a lot both work and personally. I have seen many parts of the world. I have been paid to walk the Great Wall of China and many more experiences. 

But, do not expect it to end with a visa. Far from it. Even if the occupation is on the list, you would still need to meet the points, something which is getting ever harder - the number of visas to be issued next year has been cut drastically again. So, you could well face not being able to meet the points as you would have no experience points and by the time you do, you may be too old / dream the move no longer practical 

[Quoll]

This

[Captain_Tor]

10 minutes ago, Quoll said:

This

Thanks 

[Captain_Tor]

26 minutes ago, VERYSTORMY said:

I am a bit fan of retraining and people going to uni as adults. I have done it twice. Most recently I retrained as my current profession - geologist. Which has given me a lot both work and personally. I have seen many parts of the world. I have been paid to walk the Great Wall of China and many more experiences. 

But, do not expect it to end with a visa. Far from it. Even if the occupation is on the list, you would still need to meet the points, something which is getting ever harder - the number of visas to be issued next year has been cut drastically again. So, you could well face not being able to meet the points as you would have no experience points and by the time you do, you may be too old / dream the move no longer practical 

Glad to hear you have re-trained and it has been a success and getting paid to walk the Great Wall of China sounds amazing! Geologist sounds like an interesting profession, what made you want to be a geologist? 

Yeah I know the goal posts for Oz are constantly changing so it's always going to be a risk and it might well never happen, I just feel I need to be doing something to at least try, 5 years ago I almost re-trained to be a midwife, I talked myself out of it for various reasons, I felt I was too old to go back to uni - I was 26!  and I chose to continue full time working, two redundancies later... I feel annoyed at myself for not taking the leap when I had the chance, so I don't want to miss the boat again so to speak! 

[Amber Snowball]

Just now, Captain_Tor said:

Glad to hear you have re-trained and it has been a success and getting paid to walk the Great Wall of China sounds amazing! Geologist sounds like an interesting profession, what made you want to be a geologist? 

Yeah I know the goal posts for Oz are constantly changing so it's always going to be a risk and it might well never happen, I just feel I need to be doing something to at least try, 5 years ago I almost re-trained to be a midwife, I talked myself out of it for various reasons, I felt I was too old to go back to uni - I was 26!  and I chose to continue full time working, two redundancies later... I feel annoyed at myself for not taking the leap when I had the chance, so I don't want to miss the boat again so to speak! 

I suppose with one eye on the migration route, radiography might be a goer if you can hack the physics. Nursing is becoming harder to get a job in Australia, one of the reasons I left and getting registered for midwifery can be a pain in Australia. Although they are churning out radiographers as well, so who knows.

But really anything can happen in the next 5 odd years so go with your passion and accept the outcome. Roll the dice!

[SWMOY04]

Please take my advice with a bucketful of salt...

(For this piece, nurse(s) simply refers to UK RMN trained...or Aus RPN)

If you decide to go down the nursing route...I'd suggest you train (in the UK)  as a Mental Health nurse. The training methods for nursing differ between UK and Aus. The impact is that after a 3 year degree in "Nursing", the typical newly "qualified" Aus nurse only has about a months worth (160hrs) of Mental health placement experience. 

Compared to 2300hrs or so over three years for a UK newly qualified nurse...

What that means is that whilst the Aus nurse enters into a "graduate and postgraduate" scheme (2 yrs of part time study whilst working)... the UK qualified Mental Health nurse doesnt need to... thats one less thing to worry about.

Now... i spoke about placement hours a few paragraphs up... the impact of the placement hours is that UK nurse has experienced various settings accross the mental health spectrum...and also experienced first hand how different nurses nurse different conditions... which translates to a resilience and experience that the Aus nurse may not necessarily have from the 160hrs. 

This means you are likely to advance (slightly) quicker than someone who finished the actual 3 year course on the same day as you...remember...they still do an additional 2 years (on a univeristy accredited course) before full recognition...whereas in the UK there is typically an in-house 6-12month period of preceptorship (think of it as probation)... this is typically completed by most people within months 5-8.

I'd suggest you go for mental health...the jobs are dwindling in Aus ...but I think you'd stand a better chance in that particular specialty, compared to general/adult/paediatric nursing. And also... if you find that nursing isnt on the list anymore, you definately wont want for a job as there is a massive shortage in the UK anyway...with private sector paying typically much more than NHS... (I know hospitals paying £28,000/yr to newly qualified nurses prior to the new deal done last year when NHS was paying £23,000)

Dont do the Learning Disability Nursing course (RNLD)... its far too specialist for Aus... they are still playing catch up to Mental Health as it is...

 

Just as a side bar from ... of the 28 middle to junior-upper management (clinical) posts in my hospital... about 13 of those are staffed by UK/Irish trained Nurses! (With two more on the way from UK that I know about.)Thats how well recognised UK training is.

Edited March 25, 2019 by SWMOY04
Extra thought for context

[Amber Snowball]

8 hours ago, SWMOY04 said:

Please take my advice with a bucketful of salt...

(For this piece, nurse(s) simply refers to UK RMN trained...or Aus RPN)

If you decide to go down the nursing route...I'd suggest you train (in the UK)  as a Mental Health nurse. The training methods for nursing differ between UK and Aus. The impact is that after a 3 year degree in "Nursing", the typical newly "qualified" Aus nurse only has about a months worth (160hrs) of Mental health placement experience. 

Compared to 2300hrs or so over three years for a UK newly qualified nurse...

What that means is that whilst the Aus nurse enters into a "graduate and postgraduate" scheme (2 yrs of part time study whilst working)... the UK qualified Mental Health nurse doesnt need to... thats one less thing to worry about.

Now... i spoke about placement hours a few paragraphs up... the impact of the placement hours is that UK nurse has experienced various settings accross the mental health spectrum...and also experienced first hand how different nurses nurse different conditions... which translates to a resilience and experience that the Aus nurse may not necessarily have from the 160hrs. 

This means you are likely to advance (slightly) quicker than someone who finished the actual 3 year course on the same day as you...remember...they still do an additional 2 years (on a univeristy accredited course) before full recognition...whereas in the UK there is typically an in-house 6-12month period of preceptorship (think of it as probation)... this is typically completed by most people within months 5-8.

I'd suggest you go for mental health...the jobs are dwindling in Aus ...but I think you'd stand a better chance in that particular specialty, compared to general/adult/paediatric nursing. And also... if you find that nursing isnt on the list anymore, you definately wont want for a job as there is a massive shortage in the UK anyway...with private sector paying typically much more than NHS... (I know hospitals paying £28,000/yr to newly qualified nurses prior to the new deal done last year when NHS was paying £23,000)

Dont do the Learning Disability Nursing course (RNLD)... its far too specialist for Aus... they are still playing catch up to Mental Health as it is...

 

Just as a side bar from ... of the 28 middle to junior-upper management (clinical) posts in my hospital... about 13 of those are staffed by UK/Irish trained Nurses! (With two more on the way from UK that I know about.)Thats how well recognised UK training is.

Good post!

Only thing I would add is that mental health is a tough gig so you need to be very sure that’s what you want to do. Of all the nursing specialties I reckon this one can break you the quickest if you aren’t passionate about it to begin with. 

But yes, if it’s something you think you could love doing then it’s a pathway with currently more options jobs wise than the other streams in Australia.

The OP mentioned child nursing though so mental health may not be a goer.

[Captain_Tor]

13 hours ago, SWMOY04 said:

Please take my advice with a bucketful of salt...

(For this piece, nurse(s) simply refers to UK RMN trained...or Aus RPN)

If you decide to go down the nursing route...I'd suggest you train (in the UK)  as a Mental Health nurse. The training methods for nursing differ between UK and Aus. The impact is that after a 3 year degree in "Nursing", the typical newly "qualified" Aus nurse only has about a months worth (160hrs) of Mental health placement experience. 

Compared to 2300hrs or so over three years for a UK newly qualified nurse...

What that means is that whilst the Aus nurse enters into a "graduate and postgraduate" scheme (2 yrs of part time study whilst working)... the UK qualified Mental Health nurse doesnt need to... thats one less thing to worry about.

Now... i spoke about placement hours a few paragraphs up... the impact of the placement hours is that UK nurse has experienced various settings accross the mental health spectrum...and also experienced first hand how different nurses nurse different conditions... which translates to a resilience and experience that the Aus nurse may not necessarily have from the 160hrs. 

This means you are likely to advance (slightly) quicker than someone who finished the actual 3 year course on the same day as you...remember...they still do an additional 2 years (on a univeristy accredited course) before full recognition...whereas in the UK there is typically an in-house 6-12month period of preceptorship (think of it as probation)... this is typically completed by most people within months 5-8.

I'd suggest you go for mental health...the jobs are dwindling in Aus ...but I think you'd stand a better chance in that particular specialty, compared to general/adult/paediatric nursing. And also... if you find that nursing isnt on the list anymore, you definately wont want for a job as there is a massive shortage in the UK anyway...with private sector paying typically much more than NHS... (I know hospitals paying £28,000/yr to newly qualified nurses prior to the new deal done last year when NHS was paying £23,000)

Dont do the Learning Disability Nursing course (RNLD)... its far too specialist for Aus... they are still playing catch up to Mental Health as it is...

 

Just as a side bar from ... of the 28 middle to junior-upper management (clinical) posts in my hospital... about 13 of those are staffed by UK/Irish trained Nurses! (With two more on the way from UK that I know about.)Thats how well recognised UK training is.

Thank you so much for your insight and advice. 

I have two friends that are mental health nurses and they love what they do, albeit, it can be very challenging. I am actually a volunteer for my local MIND charity and have been for the last 5 years I organise events and outings and also help support the drop in centre, so I have some experience of working with people with mental health issues. It would be a consideration if I take the nursing route to perhaps specialise in this area.

It is good to know that AUS recognise the UK nursing training so highly. 

Your post gives me food for thought, so thank you. I will do some further research into this. 

[lillystar26]

I see that this post is from a few months ago but just thought I'd contribute. 

I'm 35 and just qualified last year as a radiographer after completing the access course. 

I did the degree with 3 young children and whilst challenging, it can be done. 

Any questions just ask

[GiveAGirlShoes]

I wish I'd have seen this when it was originally posted!

I was 32 when I started my Podiatry degree, after my first year I find out I was pregnant so took a year out. I graduated 2 years ago and my journey to Australia is filled with endless hurdles. But I now work privately, 5 days a week in 3 settings, and love my job.

If we can't overcome the hurdles, we've decided to relocate within the UK and buy a retirement practice to run as a small family business somewhere with a real community vibe.
My little one is 4 now, and no matter what happens we have a plan for a "better life"; one we enjoy and don't dread every morning; one where we see our daughter and spend quality time with her.

You're not crazy, you're passionate and passion wins everyone no matter what [emoji6]