A British doctor moved to Australia to earn £1k-a-month more than she did in the UK and says she has "absolutely no reason" to return home.<br /><br />Aoibhín Bradley, 27, decided to turn her back on the NHS and find a job in the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, after hearing about the opportunities out there.<br /><br />Aoibhín has been a doctor the three years - graduating in April 2020 from Queens University, Belfast, where she studied medicine - and worked on the frontline during the Covid pandemic.<br /><br />She struggled with the long shifts - claiming she often worked three hours past her end time - and took home £2.1k-a-month based on a 48.5-hour week.<br /><br />After completing further foundation training, Aoibhín took the plunge to move to Australia in September 2022 with her boyfriend, Matthew McQuaid, 29, who is also a doctor.<br /><br />They both secured jobs in the emergency room of Gold Coast University Hospital, Queensland, and are able to work the same shifts so they get days off together.<br /><br />Aoibhín now earns $6,000 AUSD a month - £3,202.53 - for a 36-hour a week. The doctors are paid a double rate if they stay late and for Sundays.<br /><br />Aoibhín says the salary rate "blew her mind" and she is now able to spend her days off exploring and camping in Sydney and Melbourne - compared to being too tired to do anything in her free time while working for the NHS.<br /><br />Aoibhín, a doctor, from Belfast, Ireland, said: "You're working to live - not living to work.<br /><br />"Australia is more expensive but I'm still making multiple times more than what I was making at home.<br /><br />"At home, you did so many extra hours that your life consisted of working.<br /><br />"I lived in Northern Ireland and there wasn’t anything to do in MY spare time.<br /><br />"I was so tired - I didn’t have the energy to do much.<br /><br />"In Australia, pay-wise it's incredible.<br /><br />"You get paid per hour that you work. It blew my mind.<br /><br />"Here you leave on time – if not, the consultants come around and tell you to leave.<br /><br />She decided to finish her foundation training first - so she could return to the UK to work if she didn't like Australia.<br /><br />She said: "I heard about opportunities to work in Australia through word of mouth.<br /><br />"I Googled hospitals in Brisbane and Perth and applied to them all. I must have extended to the Gold Coast.<br /><br />"They interviewed over zoom and then offered us the job."<br /><br />Aoibhín moved in September 2022 and says it has been "nothing but positive."<br /><br />She said: "Everybody is so friendly.<br /><br />"I realised everybody is so happy.<br /><br />"They are getting paid what deserve.<br /><br />"There is a good work life balance. It’s amazing."<br /><br />She said: "My workforce is UK doctors.<br /><br />"It's rarer to have an Australian consultant.<br /><br />"They all say 'why the hell would I go home?'.<br /><br />"I don't know why people go home."
