Learn everything about locums in New Zealand

Have you ever thought about taking your medical skills international? Learn everything you need to know about working as a locum tenens physician in New Zealand. From the job search process to knowing what to pack, our experts explain the entire process and let you know what to expect.

Key topics covered about locum tenens in New Zealand

Want to learn more about working locum tenens in New Zealand? Search our locum tenens jobs openings in New Zealand or reach out to either of our experts below.

About the speakers:

Lindsey Schoenberg, manager of family practice, urgent care, and emergency medicineLindsey.Schoenberg@gmedical.com1.800.760.3174

Hailee Hyatt, manager for all other physician specialtiesHailee.Hyatt@gmedical.com1.800.760.3174

Video transcript:

Lindsey Schoenberg:

Thank you everyone for joining us today. It's great to have so many of you listening live. My name is Lindsey Schoenberg and I work here at Global Medical Staffing. I'm a leader on the international family medicine/emergency medicine team. I started here as a recruiter 15 years ago. I have placed my fair share of doctors all over the world. New Zealand has always been one of my favorite locations to talk about so I'm excited to talk with you about it today. I'm joined here with my colleague Hailee Hyatt.

Hailee Hyatt:

Thanks, Linds. Welcome everybody. Like Lindsey said, my name is Hailee, and I am also one of the leaders here in the international division. My team that I primarily work with handles all of the specialties outside of family medicine and ER so we're working with quite a few different specialties. I have been with the company for about 10 years now. I started out placing physicians actually in our domestic division and then I found my really big passion with international, so I moved over to our international division and have been here ever since. And then about five years ago I kind of moved into the role that I am in now.

Lindsey Schoenberg:

And for those of you who are not familiar with Global Medical Staffing, we are a locum agency that places physicians into temporary assignments all over the world. We have our international team and, like Hailee mentioned, we also have our domestic team that places physicians throughout the US. We first started placing physicians into Australia over 25 years ago. Then we branched into New Zealand not too long after and currently we're placing all over the world, and always looking to expand our locations. Today, we will be focusing on New Zealand. And before we get started, just a few housekeeping items to go through. As a reminder, you can't be seen or heard, however, you will be able to ask any questions you have throughout the discussion by clicking on the Q&A feature at the bottom of your screen. We'd love to have audience participation and answer your questions live. We'll both be reviewing those questions throughout the discussion. If, for some reason, you're having technical difficulties, log out and log back in. Lastly, we are recording this webinar and we will publish as quickly as we can after we finish, and you will all receive an email with a link to the session. So that's all of the housekeeping items, but again start submitting your questions, as we get to them throughout the presentation.

So first we're going to touch on the process of finding a job. The first step is going to be to connect with a recruiter at Global Medical. They will be able to give you the specifics on your specialty and what to expect. But across the board, there are some things that will be standard regardless of your specialty and that's going to be, first, the assignment length and then the contract, those are pretty standard no matter what specialty. First, with the assignment length, these assignments are typically going to be 6 to 12 months with 12 months really being preferred. A lot of the clients are requesting that longer commitment due to the fact the time that it takes to get you there as well as the continuity of care of the patients. Not only that, but a lot of our physicians have provided the feedback that six months isn't quite long enough. You start to fully integrate into the community and to the practice and after six months it's time to turn around and come back home. So, if you can plan on going for a year, that is best, however, don't let that keep you from reaching out to us because we do see all different lengths of assignments. With our contract, the standard contract that you can expect is going to cover round trip airfare, assistance with housing and vehicle, and malpractice insurance will also be covered, and those will be provided for the duration of your assignment. We'll touch on more of the details around the housing and car throughout this presentation, but I'll stop and take a minute just to touch on the malpractice insurance. That is covered for you and there in New Zealand it's called Medical Defense. The policy that's provided is going to be like an occurrence policy here in the States. There's no limit to the liability and it does have an indefinite tail coverage built into it. Applying for that malpractice insurance is one of the last steps in the process. When we get to that point, we would assist you with that application and handle that submission for you. All of those benefits are going to be provided. And then in addition to those, you will be paid a daily rate for each day that you work. That pay is going to vary by specialty and your recruiter can help give you the specifics on what that would look like. But the thing to be aware of when considering working in New Zealand is that these positions are not going to pay comparable to US rates. These positions are very much about the experience and adventure of working in New Zealand. So, that's a high-level overview of what you can expect.

Now let's touch on the time frame to find a position. First is to connect with your recruiter, let them know what time frame that you're available. From there, you would submit an application and CV. Our application is two quick pages. Once we receive those documents back from you and we've been able to verify the registration requirements, we would start sending you details on the positions that are available for your time frame. A lot of the time we're going to have detailed practice descriptions along with area information that we'll share with you so you can review them and determine which locations are going to be the best fit with your interest. While we're narrowing down the locations, we would also be checking your references. Once we've had a chance to speak with at least one reference and you've picked a location that you're most interested in, we would then present your details to the facility. That presentation is your CV, the references, and then a brief summary about your experience, when you're available, and who might be traveling with you to New Zealand. After presentation, the next step would be an interview. A lot of the times we're going to hear back from the facility expressing interest in setting up an interview, and really those interviews are more of an informal conversation. You'll be speaking with a doctor within the facility who is going to be able to give you a better idea of the day-to-day responsibilities and answer any questions you have to help you determine if it fits what you're looking for. They will also ask you some questions about your experience and make sure that you're going to be a good fit within the facility. After the interview, if they extend the offer and you would like to accept, then that's when we will confirm the assignment and get started on the medical registration and the visa paperwork. We are going to hold your hands and walk you through that entire process, step by step. Right now, the average timeframe for completing the paperwork is going to be about four and a half months. So, when we're talking about starting a position as soon as possible, right now that's a January start date, but you don't always have to be available as soon as possible. We do have clients who will reach out to us with a specific time frame and have us recruit for a window that's further out. For example, right now we have some family medicine physicians that they've asked us to find them a physician who can start in April of 2022. So, it doesn't have to be as soon as possible, I would say an ideal timeframe is probably to start the process about six to eight months prior to you looking to start. So, that's the process of securing a position, and now I am going to turn it over to Hailee.

Hailee Hyatt:

Thanks Lindsey. We're at a point now where we've gone through all the steps to get a job and what that looks like. And then we want to look into, "Okay, what do I need to be aware of before I leave?" kind of on the more personal side of things. One of the first questions that we typically get asked is, can I travel with my family? And the answer is absolutely yes. You can see here on the screen we have one of our doctors, Dr. Medi, he's there with his wife and little boy. We absolutely would always send a doctor with their family if they want to travel with them. It's a really long assignment to be away from family that long. The nice thing about what we do here is we help get the visas arranged to get your family in country, so we handle all of that, and depending on where we're at—pre-COVID and COVID state—things look a little bit different when it comes to the visa, but right now our doctors are going into New Zealand on a critical purpose work visa and with that a significant other or a spouse and qualifying children, they'll all qualify to go into the country under that visa. Pre-COVID or post-COVID, the doctor would get a work visa, and depending on how long the assignment is, if it's a year-long assignment, your spouse or significant other would go in under that work visa. If not, they would get a partnership visitor visa, and then qualifying kids will be going in under a student visa. So, everything looks a little bit different with COVID, our team has a really good grasp, and they stay on top of it, and they help walk you guys through that process.

Speaking of a spouse or a significant other coming to New Zealand with you, a lot of questions that we get is can they work, and the answer is yes. So, they can really do that in two ways. If the doctor is going on an assignment for over six months and they get that work visa, then the spouse can qualify to work under their work visa. If they're going for six months or less, they don't automatically qualify to work. What would happen is they would need to get in country, find a job, and if they were able to secure a job, then we could help them apply for a work visa while they're in country. So, the answer is that, yes, they can work, it just looks a little bit different based on the length of assignment. And then always a reminder, with everything that's going on with COVID right now, it could change slightly, but again, our team has a really good grasp on that. You can see that we have a photo here of Dr. Glare and his family. He traveled with his three kids and his husband there.

Speaking of kids, obviously another big thing that we want to think about is the school system, and how are we going to enroll our kids and what's that going to look like. So, we have people do it all the time, they take their kids over, they enroll them in school. The school year looks different there. Their school year runs from—it's year-round—so they start about the fifth week of the year, the fifth Monday of the year, and then they break the first or second week of December. One thing to note in New Zealand is that their seasons are opposite, so when it's summer here, it's winter there, when it's winter here, it's summer there. They're breaking in December for their summer and kind of their holidays and things like that. They offer both public and private schooling, so you do have the option. The public schooling is obviously free, whereas the private schooling is not. All the physicians that I've placed, they usually go with the public option. It's a great option, their kids have done well, but you do have both. What we suggest here is always touch base with your school here locally to let them know what your plans are and that you're going to be enrolling them over in New Zealand, and they can kind of help give you a little bit of guidance there. Because the school year runs different, you're basically always going to be pulling them out or putting them in. It's not a smooth transition because the school year runs different, so you'll want to consider that. But overall, I have to say that the feedback that we've really gotten on the school system and pulling them in and out, it's been an easy transition. I remember a few years back we had placed a doctor, and her daughter wasn't doing really well here in the school system, and she wasn't making a lot of friends. They went over to New Zealand, and they went for a year and her daughter just thrived. She did so good, the kids were really interested in her because she was from America, they loved her accent, she made a lot of friends. I just remember the doctor saying, "If I'm taking anything away from this assignment, the biggest thing is going to be how well my daughter did and the confidence boost that it gave her." It's absolutely doable so don't let that stop you from going to New Zealand.

So, before I move on to talk about a few other things I want to touch on our other family members, our furry family members. Everyone's always asking, "I can't leave my dog, I can't leave my cat." I've even had someone say they had a bunny, or I think there was a bird that came up at one time. Can your pets come? Yes, they can come, absolutely. But I always tell people to review the process and really think about everything before you take them. The process is a lengthy one, it's one that you'll want to start pretty early on. Your dog or cat or other animal will have to go through a series of tests and blood work, I think they have to be microchipped, so there's a few things that they have to go through prior to them leaving. And then, once they get in country, they do need to quarantine for 10 days before they're released to you. I can tell you that the process, like I said, it's lengthy, it's not cheap, it's not something that the clients will cover, but we've had plenty of people take their dogs. We have a picture right here of Dr. Howard Stein and he's currently on assignment on the North Island. This is a doctor that someone on Lindsey's team has placed and that's their dog Omar and they're constantly sending pictures of them just out exploring with him. I can tell you that if you were to ask them would you take your dog still having to go through that whole process, and the answer would be yes, they absolutely would. So, just consider all of the options there, it's a long flight, so I tell people to consider the age of your dog, too. I have had doctors do it both ways and sometimes leaving the dog home with a family member or a friend just worked out best for them, so a couple of options there.

Alright, so we move on from that and let's talk about what you do with your house. With this one, I've seen it done a couple of different ways. One thing that I always ask doctors is, "What's your plan right now? Are you going to be quitting your current job and making a change for when you come back?" because if you are, sometimes people decide that they're possibly going to be moving to a different state so I'm going to sell my house. So, they sell their house, maybe they're even looking to downsize or something like that. They sell their home, they put their stuff in storage, and then they make plans for when they come back. If you don't want to sell your home and that's not an option, we've had people reach out to family members to say, "Hey, can you come and stay at the house or can you come and check on the home once a week, once every two weeks, just to make sure that everything's okay?" I've had them hire somebody to take care of the outside of the home just to make sure that it's still looking nice and taken care of. And then also we've had plenty of people who have either found somebody that can rent the home, or they've hired a property management service to go ahead and rent out their house. So, a couple of options there, I think it just really depends on what's your plan when you come back. And then thinking about housing, so we've kind of got everything ready now to go to New Zealand so then we think, okay now I've got to start making plans about when I get in New Zealand. Obviously, one of the big ones is what do I do about a house? And Lindsey had mentioned earlier that with the contract, housing is typically provided. That's really going to depend location to location. If the home is provided, it will be furnished so you don't have to worry about any of that. When you get to New Zealand, everything will be ready for you to just arrive. If they're providing a car, you'll get a car, you'll get your house, easy, you're there. Housing in New Zealand, I will note that it's not as elaborate as it is here in the States. I think you can see from the picture that we provided prior, to the picture that's on the screen, it is much different. Hospital provided or clinic provided housing is typically close to the facility, sometimes within walking distance. I had a radiologist who would bike to work every day and that worked great for him. He had a car, but he was close enough, and he likes to bike. But housing, it's clean, it's comfortable, it's close to the facility.

But in situations where they don't provide housing, you're going to have to find something on your own. They will provide a stipend with an amount that is relevant to the area that you're in. We have a really great document that we can send your way that provides a lot of information on finding houses. We can also connect you with somebody who's actually worked in this specific city prior, and they can give you what they did. We also have some websites that you can look on to look for housing. Our clients are really wonderful in this area too, we're able to reach out to them, kind of give them an idea of what you're looking for, they can start pointing you in the right direction. They can tell you some areas that they would suggest living in versus areas that they would not suggest living in, so they're able to be a really great resource as well. And then the other thing that I was going to mention on that is that we actually have a lot of people who will connect with a real estate agent in the area that can help show them some of the vacant properties in the area, so a couple of different options there.

In addition to finding a home, if you are on a stipend you will need to get a car. You can simply go through a rental car agency; we've had plenty of people do that and they obviously do a long-term rental. I've also had doctors who felt like buying a car was easier, so they'll get in country, they'll purchase a car, and then they'll go ahead and sell it when they leave at the end of their assignment. So that part is pretty straightforward, and I've seen it done both ways.

And then, in regard to a cell phone, what you'll want to do if you plan on using your phone in New Zealand, the one big thing that you'll want to do before you leave is make sure you get it unlocked. I think that it was Lindsey, someone on her team, they had a doctor go out and buy brand new iPhones for their whole family, they got over there, and they didn't work, and they had forgotten to go and get them unlocked. Is that right Linds?

Lindsey Schoenberg:

Yeah.

Hailee Hyatt:

So, they forgot to get them unlocked prior to leaving, and so the phones were kind of useless in the country, which was a total bummer, we felt so bad for them. So, you'll just want to get it unlocked and then you can just sign up for a local plan when you get there. Again, the phone is pretty straightforward. If you are in a position that requires you to be on call, then they typically will provide a phone for you.

Moving on to what should you bring, what should you be packing to go to New Zealand? So, our clients will cover two pieces of luggage. This is Dr. Restrepo, somebody that is in New Zealand working, she worked for us for quite some time. They give two pieces of luggage and that is what we tell you to pack. The big thing to know here is that you're going somewhere where you can really buy anything that you need. You're going to be getting furnished housing, so you do not need to pack pots, pans, blankets. You don't need to pack any of that because you are going to be able to get that while you're there, or like I said, you're going to be getting furnished housing. We just tell you to pack simple. Bring the things that you really feel like you can't live without, but typically bring your clothes and head over, and you can get what you need there. The only time that I talk to people and say, "Okay, we're going to look outside of the two bags," is if you're really big into let's say mountain biking or there's something that you do that you're like, "Nope, this has to come with me, it's an absolute must," then okay, let's have you do a little bit of research on what it takes to ship something over. When you're shipping stuff that far, I can tell you it can become costly so that's why we really just tell people to go with the basics and you can get anything else while you're there. I can just tell you guys, that is what people do. It's very rare that I'm talking to somebody that is shipping a ton of boxes over, or they're shipping a mountain bike over. People go with their two pieces of luggage per person, and it works out perfectly for them.

The next thing that I want to touch on, these last two things, the first thing is going to be health insurance. So, one thing to note is that when you're in New Zealand you and anybody that you're traveling with, you're going to be covered for anything accidental that happens while you're in the country. So, if you're out hiking and somebody falls and breaks a leg, you're going to be covered under their healthcare system. Anything that's not considered accidental you will want to have a private policy in place. You don't have to, but I always suggest that you do. If you don't have a private policy, you will just have to pay out of pocket. I can tell you that it's not as expensive as it is here in the US. But on the flipside of that, carrying a private policy is not as expensive as it is here in the US. So, in this area, again, I've seen it done two ways. I had a dermatologist who's worked with us several times and he checked with his current policy that he was able to keep, and they were able to cover him while he was in New Zealand. And so, for him and his wife, it just made more sense for them to stick with that policy and use it when they needed to. That doesn't always work out for everybody, so in those cases, we have a list of companies that we can send you where you can reach out to them and get a quote. I did mention that it's not as expensive, so I would say typically for a family of four for a year's worth of coverage, you're looking at around like $1,500 to get that coverage. And like I said, we have a list of companies that we can send, you can usually just submit your information online and then they can start that conversation and get back to you with what a quote would look like.

And then the last part that I'm going to touch on is taxes and I'm going to be honest, I'm going to be pretty basic here. Everybody knows that taxes are tricky even if you're just filing here in the US, it's personal to your certain situation. What we tell people in terms of taxes is that if you are going through Global Medical and you're going for six months or less, you will not be taxable in New Zealand. If you are going for over six months, you will be taxable and you will be taxable from day one, and Global Medical will go ahead and withhold those taxes from your paycheck, and we will report them to show that you're paying your taxes. The one big thing to always remember, regardless of if you are taxable or if you're not taxable, you are always going to have to file your taxes here in the US, so that's one big thing. And then the other thing that we really suggest at that point is touching base with a tax professional, somebody who's dealt with international taxes. The tax years are different in New Zealand so they can provide you with some feedback on when to file taxes, and if you can apply for some credits because I know there are some credits out there and they can help you with that. The other big thing here that I'm going to mention, the last point that I will make that's really important is that you will never be double taxed. So, the United States has a tax treaty with New Zealand that prevents you from being double taxed. If you're going to be traveling on a different passport outside of the United States, you will just want to go ahead and check to see if your home country has a tax treaty that would prevent you from the double taxation. That's all the information that we provide with taxes. Like I said, we really do suggest that you reach out to somebody who is a professional in that area and can help walk you through that process. And now Linds, I think I'm going to hand it back over to you. That was a lot of information. So, Linds, you go ahead now.

Lindsey Schoenberg:

Yes, lots of information. I think the thing to keep in mind is we are going to help support you through this entire process. With all of those things that Hailee mentioned, we do have resources that we can provide to you. We may not be able to do everything for you, but we will assist and support as much as we can, as will the client that you're going to work with. So now we're going to touch on if you've gone through all of that, we're going to talk about what to expect upon arrival in New Zealand.

When we make your travel arrangements, we are going to make them all the way from your hometown to the location of your assignment in New Zealand. Right now, upon arrival in New Zealand, your first two weeks are going to be in what they call managed isolation. You may already be aware, but currently New Zealand's borders are closed to anyone who is not an essential worker and even essential workers are then required to complete this two weeks of managed isolation. It can be a bit of a daunting process, but it really is a process that we have down pat. We've been placing doctors there since the beginning of the pandemic and really haven't skipped a beat. There are more things to consider but our team has that down really well. So, those first two weeks, you can plan on managed isolation. If you were to visit the managed isolation website, you can see that there are costs associated with the stay, so I will just make a note that those costs are typically going to be covered as part of your contract. I think that there was a question that I'll just touch on right now, we can go back to it, but there was a question of whether or not your husband could join you. The answer is yes, but you know current state is to keep in mind that if any family member is joining you after the fact, they would have to do managed isolation before they would be able to get to the location. After those two weeks, you will then travel on to the location of your assignment. A lot of the time, depending on where it is, that's going to be a flight or maybe it is that your location or your assignment is close enough to Auckland that maybe you're just being picked up by a shuttle or by the client and driving to your assignment. Usually, upon arrival you'll be taken to the housing and be provided with that car from day one. Like Hailee mentioned, sometimes it's that stipend, and in that case, it may look a little bit different, but we will make sure before you're released from managed isolation that you know where you are headed.

So, the adventure part is learning to drive on the left-hand side of the road. I had a physician who I checked in with him, he was working on the South Island and when I checked in with him those first few weeks of his assignment, he told me that he was adjusting to driving on the left hand side of the road and mentioned he had put a bunch of sticky notes on his steering wheel and dashboard as a reminder of which way to turn and to keep him from getting into an accident. As far as the driver's license, you don't need to worry about obtaining a driver's license in New Zealand, only if you're going to be there longer than 12 months and then in that case, you would go out and obtain an international driver's permit.

Switching gears from there, one of the things that you'll take care of shortly upon arrival is setting up a bank account. Everyone will set up a bank account in New Zealand and then Global Medical will do a direct deposit every two weeks for the days that you've worked. That front end, we have some banks that we recommend, and that work can be started before you depart but once you arrive in country you will have to go into the local branch in person, show them your ID and provide them with a New Zealand address. From there, the direct deposit is a pretty seamless process. You will submit your time sheets to Global Medical every two weeks and that's when we will process your payroll. We always suggest minimizing the number of expenses you have at home to take care of, but if you are going to be transferring money home then we recommend that you do it in a lump sum maybe once a month or even once every couple of months, rather than weekly because there are going to be transfer and exchange fees associated with that. Even then, they are pretty minimal, I want to say I've heard $25 to transfer. The next step, once you've secured a bank account is if you are taxable in New Zealand, like Hailee mentioned, we will withhold that from your paycheck and submit it on your behalf. We are submitting that to the IRD and for us to be able to submit those tax withholdings you will have to apply for an IRD number. We will send you the application to obtain that and provide you with the information on how to do that, but you do have to physically be in country before you can obtain that. Those are a couple of logistics that you'll take care of within that first couple of weeks upon arrival.

Another question that we commonly get is, what should I expect with the cost of living? New Zealand is an island, and a lot of the goods are going to be imported, very similar to Hawaii. If you travel to Hawaii, you'll see that the cost of living is a little bit higher there, but on the flipside, if you go to a local farmers market, you're going to see that the fresh local food is going to be less expensive than what you would see in a grocery store. And it's all relative. If you're in a large city here in the US and going to New Zealand, you may not notice a difference in the cost of living. But if you're traveling from a smaller area, you might see a little bit more of that sticker shock with the day-to-day costs. And that's really it. Hailee covered the majority of it because I think once you arrive in New Zealand everything really is taken care of for you so there's really not much that you have to worry about. There are those logistics that we've covered, but when you arrive, everything's taken care of, and you just get to jump right into practicing medicine and traveling the country and learning what it's like to be a Kiwi. I'll turn it back over to Hailee.

Hailee Hyatt:

I was just going to touch on that. The really neat thing about using Global Medical is that we are there with you from start to finish. Once you accept an assignment, we have a really great team of people who will jump in and they will walk you through the licensing and all of the details that you would need to get in order for the practice side of everything, like I mentioned earlier, the visas. You're never going to be in a situation where you're like, "What's next? I don't know what to do now." We're going to be there until you're walking in your front door in New Zealand and then we're going to stick with you through your assignment too. We're always going to be here for you, and we have someone that's actually available 24 hours a day. We know that there's a time difference, if something were to come up, you can always reach out to us, and somebody will be here. And you know, that's one of the really neat things about going through our company. And the other thing I think, too, is that it's really never too early to start the conversation. Lindsey, if I'm not mistaken, I think that you worked with a doctor for like 10 years prior to them going, didn't you?

Lindsey Schoenberg:

Yeah. It was a family medicine doctor that we met at a family medicine conference back in 2007 and we checked in every six months, and finally, in 2017 he was eligible for a sabbatical, and we got him to New Zealand.

Hailee Hyatt:

Yeah. I mean, it really just proves that it's never too early and it's never too late. Sometimes we'll call somebody and they're like, "Yes, I can do this. I want to do it now, let's get the ball rolling," and it happens really quick, so make sure that you get in touch with our company. You can get on our website, you can sign up for job alerts so anytime something opens up in your specialty you'll be notified about it so you can kind of keep track of what's going on, and then you can get set up with a recruiter here who's more than happy to keep checking in with you.

And so, now I think Linds, I've seen some questions come through. One of the ones that I wanted to go back and touch on was I think that there was one about housing. Yeah, so family airfare and housing, somebody put. Airfare is always going to be covered for the doctor, of course, and it's typically always covered for the spouse, and we request airfare outside of that. I can tell you some locations, they've covered up to two children as well and some don't, so it really just kind of depends on which location, but it's something that we request all the time. And then in there they put housing as well, and so, yes, housing would obviously be provided for you and your family. I apologize, I meant to touch on this when I talked about it. Typical housing, the biggest that I've seen is like a three bedroom so if you're traveling with a really large family, I tell people to tell your kids to get comfortable because they're probably going to be sharing and it will just make them closer and that's great. But again, housing is a little bit more basic so we're not talking about four- and five-bedroom homes. I think that answers those questions on that. I think the other one, Lindsey, that I saw was will the quarantine costs be covered for a spouse.

Lindsey Schoenberg:

I saw that one as well.

Hailee Hyatt:

And in those situations, yes, you actually would room together, and those costs would be covered. I believe they can room up to four people in one room and then outside of that it would have to break into another room.

Lindsey Schoenberg:

I think I am also seeing here a question. It looks like someone had put there, can you be board eligible, or must you be board certified? I think the answer there is it really depends on your specialty, so I would say a recruiter would be the best one to answer that, but I can say that being board certified is not absolutely required so if you are only board eligible that would be a possibility.

Hailee Hyatt:

Another one that I see is around car insurance, and I should have touched on this when we talked about the car. If you're being provided a car as part of your contract then it does come with the car insurance and just like here in the US there'll be a deductible per incident so yeah, you will have that. If you end up buying a car or renting a car then you would just purchase the insurance in addition to that.

Lindsey Schoenberg:

Hailee, I think I'm seeing a question here about the tax treaty.

Hailee Hyatt:

Oh, touching on that again. I had just mentioned that there is a tax treaty between the United States and New Zealand that would prevent you from being double taxed. You'll have to file in both countries, but you won't be double taxed. If you are traveling from a country that is not the United States, you would just want to double check that your home country has that same type of tax treaty that would prevent the double taxation.

Lindsey Schoenberg:

A question here is how big of a pay difference are we generally talking about? I think that again will depend a little bit on your specialty and what you're making here, but I would say in general maybe a 30% pay difference. It's hard to say for sure, but I would say, again, your major expenses in country are covered so your expenses there are minimal, and the money is going to spend in New Zealand like it would here in the US.

Hailee Hyatt:

I've seen a couple of comments popping through about what specialties do they need. I can tell you that, right now, I mean you've heard us talk a little bit about family medicine, they do have a really big need for family medicine physicians. We have a lot of open jobs in that area. As far as other specialties go, I can tell you current state right now, radiology is a really big one, they're looking for a lot of radiologists, psychiatry is a really big specialty that we place, cardiology, pulmonary is some that we're looking for right now. It fluctuates. I tell people that we may not have a job today in your specialty and that could change so quick. I could get a job that comes in your specialty the next day. The good news is we place all specialties. I've placed dermatologists, I've placed all specialties, so don't discount your specialty at any time. Reach out, like I said, sign up for those job alerts so that you can continue to get those and connect with a recruiter so that they can keep you updated on any jobs that become available in your specialty.

Lindsey Schoenberg:

There's a question here, why is there such a big need for physicians in New Zealand? I'll touch on that. I think that the biggest reason is they just don't have enough doctors going into their system to keep up with the population demand. A lot like here, you're going to see that these needs are in the rural areas or the medium sized cities. The major metropolitan areas, they're not where we see a lot of these positions coming available. I think that another problem that sometimes they face is that New Zealand, being so close to Australia, a lot of the Kiwis that may train in New Zealand might go to Australia to work because it's a pretty quick trip back home and Australia does pay more money. So, there's reciprocity between the two countries and they can go make a little bit more money in Australia.

Hailee Hyatt:

I see a question here about typical work schedules. In New Zealand, all specialists, and Lindsey, you can touch on the GP part, but all specialists, everybody works Monday through Friday from eight to five. It's a 40-hour workweek and that's a little bit different, but sometimes when we're thinking about our hospitalists and stuff, they're used to more of that seven-on-seven-off, but in New Zealand everybody works Monday through Friday from eight to five, so it's a 40-hour workweek. Your specialty and the location that you're at will depend on whether or not you take call. And then they have registrars which are like residents that will be first on call and then you'll be second on call and you do take call from home if you're in a position where you take call.

Lindsey Schoenberg:

I'll just jump in and touch on family medicine and emergency medicine. It's very similar for family medicine, Monday through Friday. Some of our practices may only be a 32-hour work week so four days a week, depending on the location. That day off could be a Monday or Friday to be a longer weekend, but then I also have seen the day off be the middle of the week, so it's not always guaranteed to be that extended weekend. And then for emergency medicine, the schedules there vary a bit by location, but do tend to be quite a bit different from the US schedule in that it could be more of that Monday through Friday schedule. Because like Hailee mentioned, they have their resident doctors covering the on call so if you're working in a larger facility, the resident doctors might cover the overnight shift on the weekends but you're on call in case they need to call you in for backup.

Hailee Hyatt:

Okay, a couple of questions here. This one will be quick for me to touch on. One person mentioned are vacations structured into the contract. Each contract is a little bit different, but 30 days of paid vacation per year plus time off for holidays is what's typically provided on the hospital side. That's prorated based off of the length of your assignment so if you go for six months, that 30 days is going to be prorated down to somewhere around 15. Linds, are the family medicine jobs 30 or is it 20?

Lindsey Schoenberg:

Yeah, family medicine jobs are 20, but when it comes to the public holidays, I believe that works the same for both family medicine and specialist where you do typically get the holidays off, and if you are required to work on a holiday then you would get paid double time for them.

Hailee Hyatt:

And then Lindsey, I was going to kick this one over to you if it's okay. Someone had just mentioned that they've seen some of the patient volume numbers in New Zealand to be pretty high, in the 20s and 30s, and they feel like that's typically high for what they see. In New Zealand, is it structured a little bit different with the day to day with doctors and the amount of patients that they see?

Lindsey Schoenberg:

I can touch on that. I see Dr. Lu has a question on the admin work as well, so I'll tackle both of those together. Family medicine physicians, your appointment times are typically going to be 15 minutes so, on average, you could be seeing four patients per hour, so in a busy practice, that's how you're going to get closer to that 30 patients per day. Not always is that going to be the case though. Sometimes it is going to be more along the lines of 20 patients per day. The thing to keep in mind is that these patients, due to the socialized healthcare, they are coming into the practice much more often than you might see here. For example, there, I believe, prescriptions are renewed every three months and so you're going to see patients more often and you're going to be addressing one issue at a time, whereas here, if a patient is only coming in once a year, they're going to come through with a list of 10 different issues or concerns that need to be addressed. Family medicine there is very different, it's one issue at a time. If they start to say, "Well, what about this, or what about this?" I've had physicians say that it can sometimes be hard to do, but they direct them back to the office staff and say, "Hey, let's schedule another appointment." That, I think, is what makes it so you can see more patients throughout the day. And then touching on the administrative side and the paperwork, it is worked out throughout your day, so you may actually even have time blocked off for the paperwork. A lot of doctors have said that when it's advertised as a 40-hour work week, it is truly a 40-hour work week. This is not go and work for 40 hours in the clinic and then have 15 hours of admin time. That is something that a lot of our family medicine doctors, and I would say even on the specialist side, I'm sure, are really enjoying about the practice of medicine in New Zealand. The other thing along the lines with the paperwork is because they're not litigious there in New Zealand, and you don't have to worry as much about malpractice, your notes and your record keeping is very brief. When we have doctors struggling to keep up with the demand of the patients and the paperwork, a lot of those times the clients say we need to help them understand that they don't need to write a novel after each patient visit. It is a very quick, succinct note, so there's a difference there.

Hailee Hyatt:

Yeah, and I noticed someone had asked here in the US, we're sometimes putting in 10 to 15 extra hours a week because of all the admin side. One thing that I think is really important to point out is that when we say it's Monday through Friday from eight to five, it's a 40-hour workweek, it is a true 40-hour work week. In New Zealand, when it's time to go home, it's time to set it down and it's time to go home. So, as we process time sheets and stuff, there is an overtime rate in place in case you do work overtime, but I can tell you that the overtime is very minimal if we see any at all. So, when we are saying this is a very good work life balance, it is a 40-hour work week, we really do mean it's a 40-hour work week.

Lindsey Schoenberg:

I see here there's a question along the lines of are medical notes dictated, written, or electronic medical records? All of the practices and all of the hospitals in New Zealand are going to be an electronic medical record. I think that they're even a bit ahead of us in that regard that they've all been operating with EMR systems for many, many years and that is something that will come up in the interview process. The clients might ask some questions around your comfort level with the EMR.

Hailee Hyatt:

Okay let's see. We've tackled a lot of these.

Lindsey Schoenberg:

Teaching opportunities, that's one that just jumped out to me. Yes, you are not necessarily responsible for the registrars or the medical students, but that is going to be a big part of these positions, regardless of your specialty. You will have the oversight of registrars and medical students.

Hailee Hyatt:

Yep, absolutely. Do you see any others? I know that we're coming up on time here.

Lindsey Schoenberg:

Hailee, one for you that you could touch on. If you're a specialist, who covers your practice when you are on vacation?

Hailee Hyatt:

Yeah, so really to get your time off, you submit that through the hospital, it just goes through them, and they just get the coverage within the hospital to cover you while you're out. I can tell you guys I've never had a physician call and say, I wanted this time off and they won't give it to me. You just work with them there, you put in that time off and they help get you the coverage within the hospital. It's not typical like that if you're going to be taking a little bit of time off, they're not necessarily going to need to bring in a locum in country to cover for you, they just find that coverage within the hospital.

Lindsey Schoenberg:

I'm seeing a question here around the options of bringing your parent with you. The answer pre-COVID is yes, bringing your parent with you is an option. With current state, the answer is no. Unfortunately, with the restrictions that are in place with their borders, you are only able to travel with immediate family members, and I believe with your children. It is only up to the age of 23, it's between that 18 and 23 range. If you have a 25- or 26-year-old child that you would like to travel with you, which I'm sure they would love to go for the experience, unfortunately that's not an option right now with the COVID restrictions.

Hailee Hyatt:

And one other question that I see just came through was if we know of a critical care physician that's working abroad. What I can tell you, I can answer this question kind of as a whole, is that we have placed so many different doctors in so many different specialties so if you're looking to connect with somebody who has worked in your specialty, a lot of times we can do that, and we try and connect you with somebody who's actually worked in the location that you're going to so that they can provide you with some information on the hospital and the area. Keep in mind, it might not always be the same specialty in that specific area, but we really do our best and we're putting doctors in touch all the time. A lot of the doctors that have gone and done this, they're more than happy to talk about their experience. Linds, are you seeing any others?

Lindsey Schoenberg:

I see one from Dr. Barbor. Okay, so transitioning from the US medical system to the New Zealand system, yes, you are correct, there is going to be a difference. We have some resources that we can provide you beforehand, but I will also say that these facilities are very familiar with bringing in doctors from overseas, not only just from the US system but from all over the world, really. So, because they are very custom to helping doctors make that adjustment, I think you'll find that when you get there that they will have the resources there for you to help you get familiar with the different drug names, the different drug forms. Not only that but per the medical council requirement, your first two weeks of your assignment are your orientation period, so that's when you'll be working closely with a doctor in the department who will be able to bring you up to speed on all the differences and really just show you how to work within their system. And then from there, you'll always have the support of other doctors within the department to help you navigate your way.

Hailee Hyatt:

Good question.

Lindsey Schoenberg:

Does a car and stipend include insurance? Yes and no. If you are being provided with a stipend, the amount is going to be relevant to housing and car in that area, but you would be responsible for securing car insurance for your vehicle if it was that stipend situation.

Hailee Hyatt:

One person did ask if we can kind of touch on the climate in New Zealand. Overall, the climate in New Zealand, it's a very temperate country. It's typically never too hot, it's never too cold. The North Island is known for being warmer than the South Island. The North Island is a little bit more populated than the South Island as well. And then, it just depends, the cool thing about New Zealand is that you can be skiing in one area and drive a few hours to another one and be surfing. Overall, it's pretty temperate, each location is just going to be different. As you start to talk with your recruiter, what you'll want to do is give them an idea of this is what I'm looking for, I only want to be in a warm area. Okay, perfect, we'll start to narrow down locations from there.

If there's any other questions that we didn't get to, like I said, reach out. We would love to connect you with a recruiter. We're also going to be sending out the recording of the webinar, it will come to you in an email form. Just in closing, this is a really great experience. That's what we sell it for, right? An experience to work in a new medical system, to live in a different country, and to help those in need. These patients, they are a country that's in need, and so they do need the help there. It's never too early or too late to start the conversation, so please reach out and we'd be more than happy to talk to you about your specific situation.