I moved from London to Melbourne almost two years ago and have been working as a physiotherapist for 8 years now. Following my junior and senior rotations in the NHS primarily working in MSK care I moved into a First Contact Physiotherapy (FCP) role in GP practices. This pivotal move really opened my eyes to the importance of early intervention and proactive management of MSK conditions and introduced me to senior leadership which eventually led me to working as an onsite workplace health/occupational health physiotherapist here in Melbourne. 

Life in London was great with an incredible support network and a job I thoroughly enjoyed however I had always wanted to try working abroad and with the improved accessibility due to pathways such as the express flyer pathway and the working holiday visa arrangement I thought if I didn’t pull the trigger on making a decision I would end up regretting not making the leap. After writing out the pros and cons it was clear it would be a mistake for me to not at least try and so I booked a one way ticket, told my friends and family I would be leaving in a year and started getting all the documents in order. This process was made so much easier thanks to all the help and support from healthcare abroad. The guidance documents and follow up support from the team meant it was a straightforward process collecting the right evidence and as a result just under a year later I was on my way from London to Melbourne and have loved every minute since. 

When I landed I knew I wanted to take around 3 months away from work to explore the east coast of Australia, visit family in New Zealand and enjoy all the cool things Melbourne summer had on offer. This also gave me time to think about next steps for my career and what direction I wanted to take. I knew I enjoyed the proactive approach to FCP work however there seemed to be limited options available at the time and after interviewing at a couple of private practices which were pretty keen for weekend and evening work I knew that wasn’t the right fit for me either. This is where I started to learn more about occupational/workplace health physiotherapy. After doing some research about the role and completing a couple of interviews I landed a role which ticked a lot of the right boxes for me. 

So what does occupational/workplace health involve? As an onsite physiotherapist we are often there to provide two service approaches.I like to think of it as proactive and reactive. Proactive tasks such as assessing and mitigating risk where possible through risk assessments, analysis of job tasks, reviews of injury data, onsite manual handling training and ergonomic assessments are routine requests from sites. While the second approach (reactive) is more about clinical management of injuries. This is often through assessment and treatment of acute and chronic onsite injuries which can be both work and non work related, managing complex cases involving injury insurance claims and being an approachable face that workers can interact with daily around MSK and wider health and wellbeing concerns. 

Like all things in life there are pros and cons to this role. While you are often working at large sites with hundreds of employees as a contractor, lone working is the norm. There is a lot of travel involved,enjoying driving is a must and often having access to your own car is a requirement of the role. On the flip side being able to see the immediate impact you make with acute management of MSK conditions, building relationships with workers and key contacts on site and the flexibility and variety of work during the day from clinic based rehab to onsite worker interactions and the exposure to a world of different environments definitely keeps this job exciting. Since being in the role I have worked across aviation, rail, food production and distribution and even a banknote printing plant with armed guards. 

One of the biggest factors for the move to Australia was the chance to improve my work life balance and that is exactly what living in Melbourne offers. I am fortunate enough to live a 10 minute jog from the beach and a 15 minute cycle to the city so whether I want to relax with sand between my toes or a pint in hand both are easily accessible. I found finding a third space was key to building a community around me and I personally found that through run clubs but Melbourne really has something for everyone.

So after having been in Melbourne for almost 2 years I am currently in the process of applying for permanent residency through the skilled visa route. It has been a whirlwind 2 years and despite missing friends and family back home I have built a life here where I foresee myself enjoying the improved weather, work life balance and opportunities Australia brings for a while yet and the coffee in Melbourne really is that good.