International Travel – Reflection (part 4 of 4)

Reflections

How could Amy not bust out a move at a time like this!?

How could Amy not bust out a move at a time like this!?

So after all of that, all of the waiting, searching, and more waiting, was it all worth it? Most definitely. We were told by those that have traveled to the Middle East before us that our worldview will change from living and working here, and it no doubt has.

From a Physio perspective, there are so many opportunities, so many ways that I can contribute to the department I am part of, and so many things I can learn from others. I am working with people from over 50 different countries, in 1 hospital. The hospital is world class and offers me all that I am willing to accept. I can formulate a research hypothesis and have the means and staff to assist me in carrying it out. We have top physicians, Physios and speakers from around the world presenting topics to us and consulting with our team to make our hospital a better place. It is quite an amazing to be part of something so unique.

One more shot of Doha from the water a night.

One more shot of Doha from the water at night.

From a personal perspective, we have learned how to adapt to different living conditions and more importantly to different cultures. I have learned that being open, non judgmental and genuinely interested in others has allowed me to create trusting relationships with my patients, coworkers, and friends.

I have learned, most importantly, that people are genuinely nice, despite their class, country or religion and that we are all fighting the same battles. We have met wonderful people from our drivers (yes we all tend to have drivers out here!) to CEO’s, tried new sports (squash), adapted our old sports (“mountain biking” in a flat desert) and had our share of love-hate relationships with everything from traffic, to food, and the eternal sunshine that is Qatar.

I hope these posts have kept you engaged and maybe even gotten some to want to jump on a plane and move abroad tomorrow. Thanks for letting me share my thoughts with you!

~Amy

Bookmark the permalink.

3 Comments

  1. Hi Amy! Your blog series on international PT was incredibly helpful! In September at IFOMPT, I spoke with a recruiter from a PT company in Qatar, and it’s been in the back of my mind ever since. I would love to talk with you more about your experience, if you would be open to chatting sometime? Hope you’re enjoying it out there! Thanks again for the great info!

  2. Amy,

    I see you briefly looked into NZ travel PT. Is there a reason for why you chose not to work there?

    I am currently working on trying to see if NZ is a possibility for a DPT student or maybe later with experience. Please let me know if you figured out anything. Please feel free to facebook message me about this

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *