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Aboriginal podiatry positions

Discussion in 'Australia' started by maxants33, May 6, 2014.

  1. maxants33

    maxants33 Active Member


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    Hello
    I'm a UK Pod student - very close to graduation - and I'm interested to find out more regarding working in AU, but specifically with Aboriginal health programs, or rural work where you might have a lot of involvement with aboriginal communities. My interests focus on prevention of disability, but I'm particularly interested in the problems faced by specific communities with specialized problems. From the research I've read, working with aboriginal communities is exactly the kind of thing I'd be interested in doing.

    I've been trying to find out about how you might access such roles, I've emailed a few organisations, but I figured it would not hurt to query on PodA also.

    My main question is; would a recent grad would be eligible for such work, given that some aspects are likely to be very demanding? Do such roles usually require prior experience of working with aboriginal communities? And do they usually try and keep recruitment local?

    I've also had a good look at various government portals and recruitment sites, but there are few jobs going that I can see, can anyone recommend any sites where I might have more luck finding vacancies? I'd like to know more about specific requirements, but I'm beginning to wonder if these posts are relatively rare.

    The VISA issue is not a problem - I'm a dual national (grew up in Perth) and my AU passport is still nice and shiny. Its just the qualification conversion that concerns me, but other posts on PodA indicate this is not too much a problem.

    I appreciate this may be the kind of thing I have to work up to, I've read rural health posts can have a very high attrition rate, so I'm expecting they may want evidence of your ability to stick at it, and a fresh from uni pod may not appear to fit that bill.

    Other than my two main point above, can anyone throw in any advice (anything at all!) or experience on this kind of work? I'd love to hear it!

    Many thanks for reading!
    Max :santa:
     
  2. Deka08

    Deka08 Active Member

    Hi Max,
    What employers are looking for depends on what they have available. Australia has non rural, rural, and remote (and then remoter IMO). The further away from the cities, the smaller the populations and therefore lesser need for multiple pods based on population. Therefore a lot of the positions are sole practitioner, and employers are looking for someone with experience. However if they cant find anyone they may take anyone who comes along. Rural zones may have new grad positions to work with 1 or 2 other pods.
    Working in an Aboriginal community is something else. If your looking at it from a foot point of view, then diabetes and the renal foot are the big things. And the challenges that come along with it - frequency of visits, footwear access , availability and cost, regular dressings, etc, etc. If you're looking broader than the foot, then social issues in the communities are ridiculously difficult to understand until you have immersed yourself for a while.
    Look to SARRAH for more info (services for rural remote allied health) and RAHUS. RAHUS i think are associated with SARRAH and run locum services. The other sites you could try are individual state health sites for job searches. Eg. qldhealth.com.au for Queensland health - and so on for the other states. Sit down and check out google maps for locations to cross check.
    Happy to answer any further Q's you might have.
    Good luck.
     
  3. APodC

    APodC Active Member

    Hi Max,

    We work closely with Indigenous Allied Health Australia who is very well connected to indigenous community health services. I'd recommend you drop them an email and let them know that the Australasian Podiatry Council suggested you contact them. I'm certain they would be able to point you in the right direction.

    In Australia, it is difficult to get health practitioners into rural areas so I expect you will be welcomed with open arms. I'd suggest you also contact Rural Health Workforce Australia who we work with as they administer a range of incentive programs aimed at coaxing health practitioners into remote areas.

    Finally, we look forward to having you as a member of the state Australian Podiatry Association which is a fairly shameless but important plug for the professional association as membership funds the important work we do in this space.

    Good luck and let me know how you go as it's always interesting to follow people going into such important areas of work.

    Cheers,
    Damian.
     
  4. maxants33

    maxants33 Active Member

    Thanks Derek and Damian !

    I've had a good look at the organisations suggested - there is a lot of really useful information and I'll be up loading my CV to some of these sites. I'll post any new info or progress on this thread, although exam week is right next door, so I may be a bit slow.

    Again,
    Many thanks!
    Max
     
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