Forum for Nordic Dermato-Venereology Nr 2, 2018 | Page 26

Anita Eshraghi – Experiences from working as a dermatologist in New Zealand
We also see more unusual conditions such as rheu-
matic fever, Orf and more severe atopic eczema.
As a registrar in NZ you need to give talks to your
colleagues and nurses at least once a week. In
addition there is Journal club once a month, a
dermatopathology meeting every week and Grand
Round once a week. Dermatology registrars in
NZ have at least 3–4 years of internal medicine
experience. The dermatology program is 4 years.
Two years are spent in NZ and 2 years overseas
(usually the UK, Australia or Canada). If trainees
do not achieve the expected goals their training
can be ceased.
Teledermoscopy teaching 4 hours every Friday morning for registrars, GPs and
medical students.
MCNZ also require a weekly supervision plan from the future
supervisor. Written feedback is also needed every 3 months to
confirm that you are eligible to continue to work in NZ. If you
want to apply for a different position you need to contact MCNZ
and have a new supervision plan with updated references.
Working for Waikato DHB and DermNet NZ
As a dermatologist trained in Scandinavia you are allowed to
work as a dermatologist registered under the Health Practition-
ers Competence under supervision of one or two senior consult-
ants. The supervisors role is to support you as a new colleague
and make sure the requirements are fulfilled so that you can
continue to work as a dermatologist. MCNZ requires written
feedback every 3 months with information regarding strengths,
weaknesses and language competence.  If the requirements are
not fulfilled you could be stopped from working as a medical
practitioner. As a part time locum at the hospital I started with 2
weeks of introduction where I had to do electronic referral triage
(e-triage) and joined clinics with senior consultants. After two
weeks of introduction I started to work independently doing
e-triage (teledermatology including teledermoscopy) 3 times a
week, teaching teledermoscopy every Friday morning, general
dermatology clinics, supervise registrars in clinic and theatre.
As a consultant dermatologist in NZ you need to
engage in peer review at least once a year, attended
cultural training courses, conferences every year in
order to keep your right to practice dermatology.
What I miss working in NZ
I miss the good teamwork with very experienced nurses and
healthcare assistants, which I had back home in Gävle. Some
treatments like tacrolimus are not funded in NZ.
And what I miss most of all is my clean scrubs back home.
In NZ we wear our own clothes during consultations and even
when performing punch biopsies. Scrubs are worn in theatre.
Having said that infection rates are very low here.
What I would like to take home to Sweden
In general I found that the registrars here are encouraged to
read a lot and therefore have a good deep theoretical under-
standing of different diseases and treatments.
As a part time consultant for DermNetNZ.org my assignments
include updating new webpages for different skin conditions
or new treatments, selecting images for the webpages and
contacting colleagues all over the world asking for image
contributions for DermNetNZ.org.
NZ vs Sweden 
The work is over all very similar except the higher percentage of
dark skinned patients, mainly of Mauri and Polynesian origin.
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D ermatology A broad
Surfing lessons every weekend in Raglan 45 minutes drive from Hamilton.
Forum for Nord Derm Ven 2018, Vol. 23, No. 2