Personal Experiences: Physiotherapy in the UK (2)

The nature of the work certainly provided me with some amusing stories that I will be telling at the dinner table for years!

Next, I travelled, travelled, travelled and met heaps of people. I then found I was running out of cash - even though the pound is a very resourceful currency!

Marion again secured me a position for a month, which suited as I was able to attend the Edinburgh Festival and bump up the bank balance!

Located in Worcester, home to the Worcester Sauce factory in the country, my visions of quaint country England came alive.

My English accent developed as I found my patients only understood me correctly if I enunciated my words precisely!

My position was in Women's Health, an area of personal interest, yet again a specialist and challenging role. The position included outpatient and inpatient work, hydrotherapy, antenatal and postnatal classes.

After further travel and visiting relatives, another position came up for three days a week, allowing me four days to travel to the smaller destinations in England. Ideal. I had time and a cash flow to subsidise my growing travelling spirit!

The position at Edgware Community hospital was in brain injury rehabilitation and included individual and group rehabilitation programs, multidisciplinary team discussions, provision of in-services to allied health staff and supervision and instruction of therapy aides on a daily basis.

After leaving the UK my last travelling effort before coming home was to visit South Africa for the millennium and Egypt for a scuba diving course.

I had no difficulty securing a job when I arrived back in Australia and employers seem to look upon working in the UK favourably. I found the experience of working in another health system expanded my view of Physiotherapy as a profession and gave me direction within my areas of interest.

Certainly, the opportunity to experiment with working in different areas is available - and a very resourceful way to supplement an avid travel bug!

My working visa expires in two-and-a-half years' time. Having stayed in contact with Marion from the Locum Group I have decided to go back to the UK. Marion has already lined me up in a 3-month locum based in Lerwick Hospital, the capital of the Shetland Islands.

Alyssa was sent overseas by BMG Associates.