Page 1 of 2: Case study of an overseas doctor couple in Australia

News · Credits: 23836 My Scrapbook

SOMEN Chowdhury and his wife Samina Sharmin are both fully qualified medical doctors, but having their credentials recognised in Australia took some work. The couple graduated from medical school in Bangladesh in 1992, but after arriving in Australia two years ago, Dr Chowdhury started out working as a cleaner in Sydney.

"We had to start from zero again, we had no choice, but we were mentally prepared for it," he said. "It took me nearly 1-1/2 months to find a job as a cleaner. I am proud of that. It was a good job."

Now husband and wife are both working at the Royal Hobart Hospital and very close to gaining their final Australian qualifications after being helped by a local education program and a very supportive community. Dr Chowdhury, who represented Bangladesh as a wicket-keeper and batsman in the under-19 cricket team, met Dr Sharmin when they were studying in Bangladesh. But because they came from different religious backgrounds, their courtship was frowned upon and they suffered persecution from their community. They persevered and got married and 10 years on they were working as doctors, but were frustrated by the corruption prevalent in that country that prevented them from advancing their careers. They migrated to Sydney and soon passed their English tests and written medical exams. Dr Sharmin was initially in Australia on a student visa and was allowed to work only 20 hours a week, starting out in the kitchen of a nursing home and eventually working her way up to collecting blood at the Pathology department of Sydney's North Shore Hospital.

"No matter what job I've been doing people have always known I was a doctor and have been really helpful," she said. "But I wanted to continue my life as a doctor, whatever the place. I wanted to do my profession."

In May 2003 Dr Chowdhury secured a job at the RHH and in December Dr Sharmin started working at the same hospital. But they still have to complete their final clinical exam for the Australian Medical Council. As anyone who has ever sat an exam can testify, having the necessary knowledge is only half the battle -- being able to apply it under pressure is another matter. So for an overseas-trained doctor trying to complete final qualifications in Australia , the language barrier and completely foreign health system can be quite baffling. Local education consultancy CMM has been contracted by the Postgraduate Medical Institute in Tasmania to combat just that problem. Director Michelle Lucas said CMM's role was not just a training one but also a support network.

"We look at their exam techniques, the whole thing," Ms Lucas said. "Communication skills, giving them that social framework, supporting them, making them feel welcome in that community are absolutely critical."

Ms Lucas said about 150 international medical graduates were working in Tasmanian hospitals awaiting their chance to complete their final clinical exam. They formed a vital part of the state's medical system, especially in areas such as the North-West, where the hospitals are almost exclusively reliant on overseas-trained doctors.

"In many cases they're escaping from something," she said of the migrants who take part in the CMM program. `To get to this point they've had to have a degree of documentation, so that's not the problem.

"But they're already in a working position, then they have to put a layer of study on top of that, and they don't speak the language very well, and they have a family, and sometimes that family's interstate. "They can work for something up to five years before completing the whole process."

She said the overseas-trained doctors were fully competent individuals but felt a sense of demotion at having to start from the bottom of the ladder, even though many were specialists in their field. "Someone from war-torn Bosnia might come to Tasmania and so far everything they've seen has involved bomb blasts and missing limbs and so on," Ms Lucas said.

"So if someone comes into the emergency ward and says `I think I've broken my little finger', what are they going to think?" Dr Chowdhury cited a similar example. "I personally used to see more than 120 patients a day," he said. "For a stroke patient here a CT scan is mandatory and needs to be done within one hour. In my country that test was not possible before three months."

CMM provides workshops and socialisation sessions to help such doctors prepare for their fresh start in the Tasmanian system. Drs Chowdhury and Sharmin could not speak highly enough of the help they had received.

"It is good here that people understand we are not from the same system and we are not used to it. People have been very supportive," Dr Sharmin said. Dr Sharmin is working in emergency medicine at the RHH and Dr Chowdhury, who has taken up cricket again at Sandy Bay, is working in cardiothoracic surgery.

drckbhat · Credits: 102 My Scrapbook

hello friends,
this article is a real booster for those who want to go to foriegn countries to continue their profession.well it also depends on how u look at it-a glass half empty or half full

can i get this couple's mail id.?please help me.

drckbhat.

Kiran dillon · Credits: 78905 My Scrapbook My Reading List 262569 Books

Hii,
This was nice to read. But I want information about the kind of exam... I am in Melbourne now and I am applying for the dental exam. I just don know how to prepare for this exam ...can anyone help me out.....

dranil_kb · Credits: 151 My Scrapbook

Is it true?

dranil_kb · Credits: 151 My Scrapbook

kp1 · Credits: 3353 My Scrapbook My Reading List 1 Books

i am proud of this couple.we all should make them or mentors a sthey didn't give up in such hard circumstances.very motivating,i must say that

Bulimia · Credits: 21437 My Scrapbook

Haven't U heard about something who lives are worse than these couple ??

In all over the world -
I have enough !

dr_idli · Credits: 1726 My Scrapbook

well , all that i can wish is congratulations and all the best for their future

pineal2 · Credits: 13076 My Scrapbook

Hi
all this is tough, but the couple is very determined.
why the people are not applying for the south africa.
here the exam is very easy and pays are good. you have to work in the public sector.
regards

Bulimia · Credits: 21437 My Scrapbook

Why Drs with kids & family have immigrated to OZ & are trying hard to pass AMC under employer sponsored visa thou they have SA citizenship ??

Bcoz it not safe to raise their children up in SA

Malaysia has easy & relaxing jobs for Dr
Culture is well adaptable
Weather & food are excellent !!
but no opportunities for the kids to go further if not PR

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