Forum for Nordic Dermato-Venereology Nr 2, 2018 | Page 25

Dermatology Abroad
Experiences from Working as a Dermatologist in New
Zealand
A nita E shraghi
Consultant Dermatologist at Waikato District Health Board and DermNet New Zealand
I always dreamt of working overseas at one point during my
career.
As a medical officer both my husband and I dreamt of working
for longer periods of time in a developing country. However, as
the years went by and we became parents our priorities changed.
I began working as a dermatology registrar at the hospital of
Gävle, Sweden, in 2010. During my training I had the oppor-
tunity to do a 3-month rotation in the paediatric dermatology
clinic at Gregorio Marañón hospital in Madrid. During that
experience I became even more convinced I wanted to work
abroad to widen my experience and show our children the
world.
As a registrar in Gävle I had the privilege to work with teleder-
moscopy on a daily basis due to a project initiated by Dr
Susanne Vandell Uddströmer in 2012.
With that invaluable training from Dr Uddströmer Vandell
and courses in teledermoscopy in Graz and in Sweden I soon
started to look out for new challenges.
In the beginning of 2016 during a trip to New Zealand I
met DrAmanda Oakley, the founder of DermNet NZ and
teledermoscopy in New Zealand. Dr. Oakley was in need of a
dermatologist with experience in teledermoscopy. That was
the beginning of my long journey to NZ.
How to get registration
Before applying for work in New Zealand you need to submit
a cover letter, CV and provide 3 references (colleagues that
you have worked with during the past 3 years).
The references have to fill out several pages with questions
about your work experience. A phone call interview is also
obligatory to confirm the identity of each referee. If you are
accepted you will receive a work contract which allows you
to start your registration pathway through Medical Council
of New Zealand (MCNZ). Plenty of paper work is required for
this process including English language tests IELTS (academic
version) where you need to achieve at least 7.5 points (max
score 9).
Waikato District Health Board, Hamilton New Zealand, May 2018
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