Anyone from NA end up staying in Aus?

[FourFour]

I have been to Australia once on vacation, and loved it. Now I'm going to medical school at UQ starting in Jan and frankly, I cannot imagine wanting to come back to Canada or North America.

I freaking HATE winter, and I love the Aussie life style from what I saw. Plus residency seems entirely more human there. I am with JoNama on this one, I think. My only concern is WILL I be able to stay??

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[leilad]

ditto

 

[JoeNamaMD]

Australian training is recognized in Canada, so completing your residency in Australia will not restrict you from going back to Canada.

Right now, the American Board of Family Practice recognizes Aussie GPs as equivalents to US FMs, still the ACGME does not recognize this. So to work in the US you have to finish a residency in the States.

 

[gmacpac]

wait....

So if I understand this correctly. I can do my post-graduate training in Australia and move to Canada with absolutely no problem? And not have to do any revision in post-grad training in Canada at all?

 

[JoeNamaMD]

Yes, from what I know Australian trained physicians can work in Canada.

 

[gmacpac]

Yes, from what I know Australian trained physicians can work in Canada.

Is that for any specialty? Or does the rule apply only to FP?

 

[MrSanguine]

Is that for any specialty? Or does the rule apply only to FP?

It's on the RCPSC website, and it seems to cover every specialty.

 

[redshifteffect]

Is that for any specialty? Or does the rule apply only to FP?

Though this has been covered 1 million times before I'll sumarise it for you.

Speciality training - all Australian specialities are recognised, but you will still have to go through a verification process. If they deem your training equivalent to theirs, you will be able to take the fellowship exam in Canada. This is a long process though, and if you are missing something that would be required in Canada you'll have to finish that first before you can take their fellowship exam. Best to check out what you want to do, so you plan it before you finish your fellowship in Australia.

GP - This varies from province to province, but Saskatchewan will recognise your FRACGP training, and you can start practicing without any exam. You will eventually have to complete all the exams (MCCEE, QE1, QE2) to get full recognition, but this can be done in several years. Currently most provinces will require a varying number of those exams before working (Manitoba for example requires the EE, while Ontario requires all three + 1 year of experience in Canada - though this will change in Sept.).

You are much better off doing all your training in Australia, as you can then stay. If you do any training in Canada it will be a difficult for you to return to Australia.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

I have no idea why people want to back to Canada or the US so bad, first of all in Australia average GP income is around 300k a year, typical GP income in the US is 150k a year, typical in Canada is around a measly 110k. And the US dollar is not going to make a big recovery against the Aussie, bank on it, especially the way the Asian countries eat up resources its not happening, commodity prices are falling a bit but in the long run they are on an upward trend and the Aussie dollar is heavily tied to commodities like Gold and Oil.

Aussie GPs typically work 40 hours a week, most North American GPs usually work well over 60, so those salary numbers I put out are actually a bit skewed.

Still many North Americans want to go back home, its no wonder that North Americans now have a stigma in Australia that they are just rejects who did not make it back home. That is also the reason why so many schools are now emphasizing recruiting students from Asia rather than North America.

Sometimes I do not understand the logic of people, its like those *****s who camped outside last December to get iPhones when the better and cheaper model came out only a few months later.

 

[gmacpac]

Sometimes I do not understand the logic of people, its like those *****s who camped outside last December to get iPhones when the better and cheaper model came out only a few months later.

hehehehehehe.

 

[redshifteffect]

I used to think 60 hours a week was nothing. But until you actually work it and it's no longer just a number on a piece of paper somewhere you can't really appreciate it.

Working 80+ hours I think is just insane. There is definitely a much better balance of lifestyle and work life here. The most interesting thing to me, is that the length of training in Canada and Australia is almost the same. With the exception of the one year internship in Australia, most Canadian programs are as long as their Australian equivalents (that's actually why all Australian specialities are recognised, but not all American ones are).

So why then do you Canadian residents (registrars) still have to work crazy hours?

 

[JoeNamaMD]

From what I know, Canadian work hours do not seem to be much different than those in the US. I used to have a full time career before medical school, I am a non traditional, worked as a financial analyst for nearly a decade before embarking upon medical school. I have a pretty good idea of what its like to work long hours.

Most GPs I know in Brisbane keep fairly normal office hours, the one close to where I live is pretty much a 40-45 hour a week practice. Some people work more to increase their earnings. I do not know of anyone back in the States in medicine who has a 9-5 job. The physicians I have met here seem to have a
balance that is not found in North America with regards to work and life, people actually get to see their kids, go on holidays, etc. When I traveled to Europe, I learned that many doctors in the EU are also ridiculously overworked, 80 hours a week is actually quite normal for British and German physicians.

The recent report estimates that the average Aussie GP earns a net income of 275k a year, I really do not know of any FMs in the States making that kind of money unless they are in the middle of nowhere with no other competing physicians.

 

[gmacpac]

So a GP in AU makes 275K regardless of geographic location? And the work week is 45 hours max unless a person chooses to work more hours for extra pay?

Than sounds like heaven to me.

I am also a non-trad, and currently my work week is 60-80hrs. I hope things don't change by the time I graduate.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

That seems to be the average, a GP in a rural locale makes more on average, some parts of QLD and rural NSW they make a net of 500k a year. When most people from the US think rural its usually in the middle of nowhere, most rural Aussie locations tend to be small coast towns.

This is what one "rural" area looks like in QLD:

This is another one in "rural" Queensland:

People I know back in the US worked their tails off for years to live in places like this.

This is is Sydney at night time, Darling Harbour to exact:

Also beautiful. Still these photos hardly do any justice to it, see it in real life, amazing.

Compare this to where I grew up:

Why do you think I love Oz so much??? Most sane, logical, intelligent human beings would prefer the above three locales to the bottom two.

This is what downtown Brisbane looks like at night:

Sydney, Brissy, are both wonderful cities. Australia in general I have found to be gorgeous. Still a good number of Australians live overseas, London is full of them, I have no idea why someone would want to live in dreary old London over something like the above. I heard even New York has a small number of them too, I know a New Yorker in Melbourne who always gets asked why he moved to Oz and then he points to the surroundings. I remember my first day in Brisbane when I went into a store to get something and a guy asked where I was from. I said the US, and he shrugged his shoulders, "Why do you want to live here??". I honestly thought he was out of his mind. These photos of Oz and Chicago tell the story.

I think the people if given a choice who would pick a dreary place like Chicago over Oz are the same fools who would camp out overnight in front of an Apple store to get that non 3G iPhone that came out last year.

 

[gmacpac]

Those are really nice pics. You forgot to post Brisbane's pic.

 

[FourFour]

This is what I'm saying. As stated above I've only been to Oz once...but why on EARTH would people want to live in a dreary, cold climate when they can be living it up in warmth. I cannot WAIT to go, and the idea that I don't have to live through another Feb-March HELL in Ontario makes me happy inside. For reals, March is the worst. Slushy gray muddy sickness.
I may be exaggerating alot, but my feelings about winter are quite etreme haha.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

I think they edited it out, still my point is that the surroundings you will be in are unique, and few people in the world who live in such a place should consider themselves extremely lucky.

I had this one old roommate who kept ripping down Australia, complaining, even making some nonsense allegations about racism, and said the US was "better", honestly considering his ethnic background and the current political climate in the US, he would definitely have a lot more problems in the USA and a lot of people in the States would not make him feel welcome. Frankly I experienced far more harsher racism in the USA than in Australia. He even claimed that he visited Dallas, Texas and thought Texans treated him better, I actually found what he said to be a bunch of nonsense because I have been to that city and the people there are not known for their tolerance.

 

[redshifteffect]

This is what I'm saying. As stated above I've only been to Oz once...but why on EARTH would people want to live in a dreary, cold climate when they can be living it up in warmth. I cannot WAIT to go, and the idea that I don't have to live through another Feb-March HELL in Ontario makes me happy inside. For reals, March is the worst. Slushy gray muddy sickness.
I may be exaggerating alot, but my feelings about winter are quite etreme haha.

I heard the winter of 07-08 was pretty bad. I'm so glad I was working here at the time, and so got to miss it out completely. This summer wasn't too bad, but 2 months of summer in a year isn't great.

I was just thinking about it, and even in Tassie winter is only really 2 months.

 

[Lokhtar]

I think they edited it out, still my point is that the surroundings you will be in are unique, and few people in the world who live in such a place should consider themselves extremely lucky.

I had this one old roommate who kept ripping down Australia, complaining, even making some nonsense allegations about racism, and said the US was "better", honestly considering his ethnic background and the current political climate in the US, he would definitely have a lot more problems in the USA and a lot of people in the States would not make him feel welcome. Frankly I experienced far more harsher racism in the USA than in Australia. He even claimed that he visited Dallas, Texas and thought Texans treated him better, I actually found what he said to be a bunch of nonsense because I have been to that city and the people there are not known for their tolerance.

I haven't really experienced any racism in the US (I'm Indian). A couple of friends who visited Australia warned me that it's not like the US down there, and you can expect some things. That is overblown?

 

[yellowmellow]

I haven't really experienced any racism in the US (I'm Indian). A couple of friends who visited Australia warned me that it's not like the US down there, and you can expect some things. That is overblown?

I've heard the same thing(I am Asian) It kinda confusing because some people in Sydney say they never experienced anything and others don't.

 

[gmacpac]

I've heard the same thing(I am Asian) It kinda confusing because some people in Sydney say they never experienced anything and others don't.

Wait.

Can you kindly clarify this please?

Do you mean some people experience racial biases, and others don't?

I am of the opinion that every country has its own stock of racist people. What differentiate one from the other is how rampant racism runs one society compared to the other. How is the media in Australia? Is racism an every day thing? or is it limited to a certain group of people?

 

[shan564]

I'm Pakistani/Muslim, so everybody in the US thinks that I want to blow stuff up and that I somehow benefit from high gas prices (even though Pakistan doesn't have any oil). I'm hoping that it'll be different when I go to a country where people actually know the difference between Iran and Iraq (unlike many Americans, whose feelings are summed up pretty well in Alan Jackson's song "Where were you").

 

[gmacpac]

I'm Pakistani/Muslim, so everybody in the US thinks that I want to blow stuff up and that I somehow benefit from high gas prices (even though Pakistan doesn't have any oil). I'm hoping that it'll be different when I go to a country where people actually know the difference between Iran and Iraq (unlike many Americans, whose feelings are summed up pretty well in Alan Jackson's song "Where were you").

This is one of my concerns too. Are Australians in general are of the opinion that All brown people are terrorists, and therefore its okay to be racist against them. Or do they actually look at people on a person to person basis?

 

[yellowmellow]

Wait.

Can you kindly clarify this please?

Do you mean some people experience racial biases, and others don't?

I am of the opinion that every country has its own stock of racist people. What differentiate one from the other is how rampant racism runs one society compared to the other. How is the media in Australia? Is racism an every day thing? or is it limited to a certain group of people?

Well,from what i've heard from my friends in Sydney, it is not like they are swearing or throwing stuff at u (one friend actually got hit by pop can once) but there is always this "feeling" that they treat you "differently".

i am kinda confused too because my other friends actually love Sydney and hate Canada one told me that he felt like he was treated worse in Alberta than in Sydney. So i really dont know

But if you google racism in Australia, u will come up with lots lots of scary stories.

 

[gmacpac]

Well,from what i've heard from my friends in Sydney, it is not like they are swearing or throwing stuff at u (one friend actually got hit by pop can once) but there is always this "feeling" that they treat you "differently".

i am kinda confused too because my other friends actually love Sydney and hate Canada one told me that he felt like he was treated worse in Alberta than in Sydney. So i really dont know

But if you google racism in Australia, u will come up with lots lots of scary stories.

Hey Joe: Any comments on this?

 

[redshifteffect]

Well,from what i've heard from my friends in Sydney, it is not like they are swearing or throwing stuff at u (one friend actually got hit by pop can once) but there is always this "feeling" that they treat you "differently".

i am kinda confused too because my other friends actually love Sydney and hate Canada one told me that he felt like he was treated worse in Alberta than in Sydney. So i really dont know

But if you google racism in Australia, u will come up with lots lots of scary stories.

The ironic thing in all of this is that in Canada when we think of the US we get this idea that it's a pretty racist place down there. That may not be the case but it's the general perception that we have.

I've never really lived in the States, but I did do a few rotations down there, and the racial tension there was really overwhelming. I got the feeling that people were generally pretty afraid of Black people, particularly at night, and went out of their way to avoid them. I even got a tip from a few people to "avoid eye contact, as that can make it worse". Seems like racism of the worst kind - the kind that happens behind your back.

I think that minorities get a fair shot here - the mayor of Melbourne is an asian dude that doesn't speak a word of English, quite a few medical students/doctors are from diverse ethnic backgrounds. I think the only "problem" you might experience is if you start moaning about Australia, then people might believe the stereotype that North Americans are nothing but a bunch of whingers.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

I'm Pakistani/Muslim, so everybody in the US thinks that I want to blow stuff up and that I somehow benefit from high gas prices (even though Pakistan doesn't have any oil). I'm hoping that it'll be different when I go to a country where people actually know the difference between Iran and Iraq (unlike many Americans, whose feelings are summed up pretty well in Alan Jackson's song "Where were you").

This is a comedy show about Arabs in suburban Sydney, its a very different attitude compared to American and European views of Arabs:



[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlJ_C5BcL9U&NR=1[/YOUTUBE]

Very different from North Americans and Europeans.

I think some racism exists in Australia but compared to what I have seen in the US its nowhere near as bad. In my own experience I found white Canadian people to be some of the most racist people I have known, they all act liberal on the outside but most are very xenophobic. Most of my friends at UQ are Australian and I find them to be a lot friendlier than white Canadian international students(who probably worship Adolf Hitler in their apartments). Having to travel to Canada for my first interview was one of most unpleasant experiences I have ever had.

I would say minorities have way more of a voice in Australia compared to a lot other countries. I still don't think the US is so fair, even if Obama is running for President, he's half white anyway.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

Well,from what i've heard from my friends in Sydney, it is not like they are swearing or throwing stuff at u (one friend actually got hit by pop can once) but there is always this "feeling" that they treat you "differently".

i am kinda confused too because my other friends actually love Sydney and hate Canada one told me that he felt like he was treated worse in Alberta than in Sydney. So i really dont know

But if you google racism in Australia, u will come up with lots lots of scary stories.

Its all BS, nearly a third of the people I see on the street in Brisbane are Asian. The Prime Minister's daughter is married to a Chinese guy, do you think Bush or Clinton's daughter would marry a non-white?? The fact that your friends have mixed experiences is actually a good sign. People are people, not everyone is going to like everybody.

I have actually lived with white Australians, I never even got chance to experience life with white Americans. In fact when I was in college I answered an advertisement for share accommodation and these girls from California all of a sudden told me the place was taken. Australians are not politically correct thats about it, but I prefer them to superficially pc North Americans who are often racist on the inside.
I was in Chicago for some electives and there was way more racial tension there than in Brisbane.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

Hey Joe: Any comments on this?

Queenslanders are more conservative than Sydneysiders, yet no one has thrown soda cans at me.

Canada, a really tolerant country?? Yeah right:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thivierr/1253789380/in/photostream/

This guy is a complete scumbag, and guess what country he lived in?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/zundel/
Canada.

Oh and I have also seen a lot of black male/white female couples in Australia, more than in North America.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/08/10879/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080908/ap_on_el_pr/college_republicans_obama Oh yeah. No racism in the Good Ol USA!!! Look what this guy said, he is actually Italian American.

Abercrombie and Fitch is one of the most racist companies out there and it sells like hotcakes in Canada, USA, and the UK, yet is not in Australia.

Australia with regards to racism has nothing on China:
http://www.thechinaexpat.com/racism-in-china/

Now that you people brought it up, some of the most unpleasant experiences I have had in Australia were with East Asian internationals. Many of them think only whites can be "true Americans".

When I was getting tickets to the US, my travel agent gave me a cheaper ticket for Japan Airlines and I decided to spend more to go on Qantas because I did not want to be treated like a scummy Gaijin.

 

[Lokhtar]

Joe,

I did not mean to imply there is no racism here. Just that, as an Indian, it's not in my face and I haven't felt that it has ever affected me negatively in society or education or the work force. Obviously other people's experiences will vary. I don't particularly care how much racism there is, I have a thick skin, as long as I am not in physical danger, I can manage. If it's really bad, I can just stick it out and move back. If its overstated, so much the better.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

I actually knew an Indian guy who said he was interrogated by US Customs in New York simply because he flew on Emirates when he went to India to visit his cousins. He also told me they did it to all the Indian or brown looking passengers on the flight but not to any white passengers.

I went to Germany last year, and I thought the people there were really cool, in fact I hung out with a bunch of Arnold Schwarzenegger type German guys over there and they treated me great, saw me as an American. I run into East Asian FOBs in Brisbane and its another story. Germans are stereotyped to be a bunch of Nazis but my real life experiences with them have been the complete opposite.

 

[Dr.Millisevert]

The ironic thing in all of this is that in Canada when we think of the US we get this idea that it's a pretty racist place down there. That may not be the case but it's the general perception that we have.

... its easy to not be racist when you have no people of colour even living in your country. (Great White North).

Completly kidding.. don't worry.

 

[Dr.Millisevert]

Australians are not politically correct thats about it, but I prefer them to superficially pc North Americans who are often racist on the inside.

agreed

 

[JoeNamaMD]

I remember this French Canadian girl said she had friends of many different races, she said they were German, Italian, British, Belgian, Portuguese, and Dutch. Races or nationalities???

 

[gmacpac]

I would have to agree with Joe on this. I have never been to Australia, so I can't comment on that.

But everything Joe has said about people in USA are exactly what my experiences have been.

In USA, people on the surface are very tolerant, but they can not stand a person of color in their back yard.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

The vast majority of Australians are way too busy to bother you any way. Contrary to another stereotype of Australia, Aussies are very hard working people.

 

[shan564]

I actually knew an Indian guy who said he was interrogated by US Customs in New York simply because he flew on Emirates when he went to India to visit his cousins. He also told me they did it to all the Indian or brown looking passengers on the flight but not to any white passengers.

That happened to me the last two times I traveled internationally (not including Canada).

The first time, in January 2006, I was flying back from Pakistan with my family. I took Emirates from Karachi to Dubai to London, and American Airlines from London to Chicago to St. Louis (home). They pulled me aside in Chicago (only me; not my dad or my 13-yr old brother) and put me in a room with other brown males in my age group. I waited in the detaining room for a couple of hours (and I missed my connecting flight to St. Louis), when somebody came and asked me some basic questions (i.e. what do you do in the US?). Then they led me into another room along with another young Pakistani male traveler, and we both waited for our turn to talk to the people in charge. They again asked me some basic questions and let me go (I guess they realized that I speak perfect American English, I have a good reason to be in the US, I'm a permanent resident, and I've been in the US for 11 years already).

The second time, in March 2008, I was returning from Kuwait (a highly-developed West-loving oil-rich country) with my mom and my brother via Kuwait Airways. This time, I happened to land right after a Pakistan International Airlines flight... so the detaining room was full of young brown males. Because I had to wait for all of these guys to get cleared out, I spent about 5 hours sitting in those uncomfortable chairs and waiting for them to call my name. This time, the guy was friendly... but they still wouldn't give me a reason why they detained me. In any case, I can guess what the reason is... everybody on that interrogation list was a young brown male between the ages of 18 and 35. Nobody ever bothered my mom, my brother, or my dad. Most of the people in that room were there with their families... but it was always the young male of the family that was interrogated.

I've heard that this kind of stuff only happens in the US.

 

[ewc]

this post is becoming rather interesting. bottomline is that racism happens everywhere, some places more overtly, some more covertly. it's one of those facets of life things that really make human society more interesting, albeit not for the best.

i'm an asian ethnic chinese person from singapore, and i've travelled through parts of the canada, united states, australia, china, malaysia, korea, etc. when i received my offers from uq and usyd, i was wondering about the concept of time changes things. back in the 90's i travelled as a teen to australia (perth and brisbane), and i thought that the australians were a friendly bunch. in 2000, i was stationed with the singapore air force in tamworth, new south wales, i've had my experience of the car go by with rolled down windows "go home chinks!" and i've had my experience of friendly australian air force officers who truly meant well. i'm sure that in 2008/9 things would've been different. it was only in 2005 that the cronulla riots happened

as a teen, i've been to austin and houston, texas (both heavily democrat and liberal cities). it was a good experience and folks were very nice. after sept 11, 2001, this may have changed, along with folks like Lou Dobbs subtly negative talking about the south americans and chinese. when i came to canada to study, it was a good experience, and i've been told that racism occurs in canada. i've not had any moments so far. i've been together with my girlfriend since we were in university, and she's a polish canadian, blonde and blue-eyed. this is probably when the true test came. we travelled to quebec, and folks seemed to give us a second look. perhaps they don't see this on a regular basis. together, we've travelled boston, and nyc without problems. when we stopped in pennsylvania for a gas stop, we were holding hands and people just stared at us like we were diseased.

one clinical fellow from melbourne (originally from hong kong) told me that i would almost never see another couple that would be like me and my girlfriend. then i got to know the australian pm's (kevin rudd) son-in-law was ethnically chinese. if you looked online people wonder what she saw in him, and all the bs. another colleague of mine (who was a chinese girl) in toronto, told me that european descent australians will look at me differently, when i told her that i was going to australia for medicine.

isolated to "western" countries? think again. when i visited home in singapore with my girl, i found all kinds of strange comments about my "white girlfriend". not necessarily the typical stereotype labels of racism, but subtle dissent of our relationship. same thing on our hong kong stop over.

i guess what i'm trying is that things like that occur everywhere, even when you least expect it. don't expect anything, and don't think that anything will happen. keep an open mind. i'm going to australia for my medical education and to try to make the best out of it. if i have a bad time there, i'll keep to my original goals of getting my degree and get out. if i like it, then where's the problem? if anyone's worried about things that are only skin deep, then progression is hard.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

The EU is now going to require American citizens to give their fingerprints and get a retinal scan before entering a European country, the Russians and the Chinese are now planning the same, this is all in reaction to their citizens being scanned upon entrance to the US. I would not be surprised if Australia started requiring this of US citizens entering Australia. They actually have deported Americans for being smartasses with the Australian immigration officers.
There is a TV show called Border Security and there is usually an American who always does something stupid, many times they get sent back to the States, probably this is in reaction to the way some Australians are treated when they travel to the US.

 

[redshifteffect]

... its easy to not be racist when you have no people of colour even living in your country. (Great White North).

Completly kidding.. don't worry.

LOL come and hang out in Brampton - I think I saw two Caucasions the entire time I was back.

 

[redshifteffect]

this post is becoming rather interesting. bottomline is that racism happens everywhere, some places more overtly, some more covertly. it's one of those facets of life things that really make human society more interesting, albeit not for the best.

Funny enough an Asian Canadian friend and I were discussing this the other day - we both noticed a lot more White male/Asian female couples here then back in Canada, and also vice versa.

Maybe there's a higher percentage of Asians here?

 

[ewc]

i can tell you that as an asian guy, i date any girl who is still a warm body, regardless of skin colour, purple, green or whatever. just so happens that i'm with a polish canadian. much of this interracial dating ratio and interracial relations (anywhere - work, leisure, etc.) is really superficial and just a stereotype that perpetuates itself. if you look at hollywood, you'll hardly ever (or never) see an asian superhero who's the main character or even so, you'll never see him ending up with the chick (regardless of ethnicity). but it's the same everywhere. no bollywood movie would have their indian heroine/lead actress with a guy who's of different ethnicity, likewise hongkong movies. but this is a side issue.

the world is what you make of it. as a medical student, you need to adapt to succeed. makes you a better doctor if you have a broader international perspective.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

Another great reason to stay down under!!!

Wawaweewa!!:

Mmmm, yummy!!!:

Its going to be a very tough four years in Sydney!!! LMAO!!:

Paris Hilton as the judge on Miss Blonde Bondi:

 

[gmacpac]

Hey Joenamma: You're a devil!!! What are you trying to do to us? I've lost my concentration already

 

[dunmaglas]

I hope Joenamma's pictures are not a valid indication of where attractive australian women can be found. I don't really plan to spend a whole lot of time at beaches, race tracks watching cars turn left, or anyplace frequented by ms. hilton.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

Actually you can find a lot of attractive women at UQ and at most Aussie unis, and many of them will be your classmates in medical school, trust me, I wanted to post up one of the recent class photos but you'll just have to come to the campus on Herston to see it, when another UQ student took me an a tour several years ago, I was floored.

I met my significant other while on a clinical rotation, she was also a med student. Plenty of cuties in medical school and a good chance of hooking up with one.

There is also a lot of eye candy for the females too, I am not a chauvinist but I do not want you guys getting the wrong idea about if I start posting photos of Australian guys.

I had a choice of UQ and a no name state medical school in Michigan, it was an easy choice considering what I posted above.

Those are all real Aussie girls.

 

[Zuckman]

I'm really looking forward to checking out the ladies at UQ..gonna be lots of fun

 

[JoeNamaMD]

this post is becoming rather interesting. bottomline is that racism happens everywhere, some places more overtly, some more covertly. it's one of those facets of life things that really make human society more interesting, albeit not for the best.

i'm an asian ethnic chinese person from singapore, and i've travelled through parts of the canada, united states, australia, china, malaysia, korea, etc. when i received my offers from uq and usyd, i was wondering about the concept of time changes things. back in the 90's i travelled as a teen to australia (perth and brisbane), and i thought that the australians were a friendly bunch. in 2000, i was stationed with the singapore air force in tamworth, new south wales, i've had my experience of the car go by with rolled down windows "go home chinks!" and i've had my experience of friendly australian air force officers who truly meant well. i'm sure that in 2008/9 things would've been different. it was only in 2005 that the cronulla riots happened

as a teen, i've been to austin and houston, texas (both heavily democrat and liberal cities). it was a good experience and folks were very nice. after sept 11, 2001, this may have changed, along with folks like Lou Dobbs subtly negative talking about the south americans and chinese. when i came to canada to study, it was a good experience, and i've been told that racism occurs in canada. i've not had any moments so far. i've been together with my girlfriend since we were in university, and she's a polish canadian, blonde and blue-eyed. this is probably when the true test came. we travelled to quebec, and folks seemed to give us a second look. perhaps they don't see this on a regular basis. together, we've travelled boston, and nyc without problems. when we stopped in pennsylvania for a gas stop, we were holding hands and people just stared at us like we were diseased.

one clinical fellow from melbourne (originally from hong kong) told me that i would almost never see another couple that would be like me and my girlfriend. then i got to know the australian pm's (kevin rudd) son-in-law was ethnically chinese. if you looked online people wonder what she saw in him, and all the bs. another colleague of mine (who was a chinese girl) in toronto, told me that european descent australians will look at me differently, when i told her that i was going to australia for medicine.

isolated to "western" countries? think again. when i visited home in singapore with my girl, i found all kinds of strange comments about my "white girlfriend". not necessarily the typical stereotype labels of racism, but subtle dissent of our relationship. same thing on our hong kong stop over.

i guess what i'm trying is that things like that occur everywhere, even when you least expect it. don't expect anything, and don't think that anything will happen. keep an open mind. i'm going to australia for my medical education and to try to make the best out of it. if i have a bad time there, i'll keep to my original goals of getting my degree and get out. if i like it, then where's the problem? if anyone's worried about things that are only skin deep, then progression is hard.

Unfortunately things like that happen everywhere, I think currently in the States people of Middle Eastern or South Asian origin have the hardest times, before it used to be African Americans.
I actually know a Turkish guy who said he was treated great in the US but Turks are actually white and honestly when I first met him I thought he was British. I also knew a Lebanese guy in Australia who liked traveling to the US but he looked white also, could easily pass for Russian or Polish, I thought he was just your regular white Aussie when I met him.
There are some racists in Australia but generally most Aussies are not very religious, nationalistic, nor militaristic, things that would easily contribute to racial prejudice, so most people in my experience are not racist. They can be a bit un-pc but thats about it. In general most Aussies don't make a big deal out of things and do not take life so seriously.

 

[ewc]

wise words. very nice pictures JoenamaMD

 

[JoeNamaMD]

This was taken from the Asia News Service:
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=12796&size=A

Still think Australia is racist, you do not ever hear of the Australian government creating an order to forbid restaurants from serving "blacks" and "Mongolians", this happened during the most high profile international event on Earth, the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

I would say Google Russia and Racism, Zimbabwe and Racism, Britain and Racism, France and Racism, Dubai and Racism, Israel and Racism, Brazil and Racism, Argentina and Racism, Japan and Racism, of course USA and Racism and a few other countries and you will hear far worse stories of bigotry than in Australia. Unlike the other countries Australia with the exception of the US Oz is multicultural. That little Cronulla fracas three years ago was nothing compared to Los Angeles 1992 and what happened in Paris in 2005.

Considering what happened in Beijing, I ewc I would take what that Chinese girl told you with a grain of salt, a big one. Its a fact of life that not everyone is going to get along.