Alma Creavan is an Irish Young Dentist. In this article she shares her experience of being a newly qualified dentist in Australia.
Here she helps to explain the visa process and some of the challenges of finding a job in Australia.
Five years is over in a flash and now you can officially call yourself a dentist. No more exams, or long evenings spent in the library. However there is the very terrifying fact that you are actually a dentist! No more supervision or helpful supervisors. We must take consolation in the knowledge that others have done this before and survived to tell the tale. I am surviving!!!
I decided that the thought of working wasn't terrifying enough so I added a move to Australia into the mix. Australia is a great place to work and live but it is very expensive, like $10 drinks expensive, so finding a job quickly was a top priority. There is an abundance of dentists in Australia at the moment. The number of students allowed to study dentistry has increased resulting in a surplus of dentists, so be prepared to start off working part time. It is absolutely essential to have money saved before moving to Australia, getting set up isn't cheap. It is routine for apartments and houses to come unfurnished and rent can also be pricey.
There is a lot of paperwork to get through before working in Australia, and paperwork is processed very slowly! I initially came to Australia on a working holiday visa (subclass 417) and had to have a full medical and chest x-ray to obtain a visa. On this visa there is a limit of six months that you can stay with one employer unless your employer decides to sponsor you and then you can work for up to four years with them. This sponsorship would also help in gaining permanent residency in the future. However this means you are tied to that particular practice and leaving would mean that you have to find another sponsorship or visa within 30 days.
I am working in a private practice in Perth. It is a great place to work and very supportive. There are two other dentists in the practice who I can run to at any time with questions. The thing I found most comforting was finding out that absolutely everybody feels the same about their first year after graduating. I was very nervous on my first day but after the first few patients I finally relaxed. My nurse constantly reminds me of my shaky hand! The most nerve wrecking aspect is having the freedom to do what you want with your patients. We no longer have supervisors to check our work, which is a great thing, but initially can cause panic. Just remember you wouldn't be allowed to graduate if you weren't competent!
I am really enjoying my time in Australia I live in the city which gets the most sunshine in the world, Perth, spend my free time at the beach avoiding sharks and have made loads of new friends. One thing that is absolutely essential is to have life outside of dentistry. Try not to take dentistry too seriously. Leave work at work and enjoy your newly free evenings! I've joined a tag rugby team which is a brilliant way of making new friends especially having moved to a new country, not that Australia is short of Irish people!!!
Alma Creavan