Evilmunki

Hi all, just looking for a bit of advice.

I'm out in Dubai just now - my wife is hopefully going to join me in the near future.

She is a Senior 1 occupational therapist with 16 years experience specializing in the paediatric side - she has been looking at jobs online but they all seem to be very low paid compared to what she is on in the UK.

I'm looking for advice from anyone with an OT or medical background - is there anywhere else she should be looking? Should she be looking at hospital roles only or is there a demand for private work?

Thanks in advance!

scot47

It depends on what nationality is usually recruited for these jobs. If recruits are usually Filipina, expect very low salaries.

Evilmunki

That's kind of what we thought, most of the OT jobs seem to be aimed at the Filipino market, most of whom won't have the clinical experience that my wife has in paediatrics

scot47

Increasingly true in the labour market in the ME. Why hire someone from the UK when Filipinos and South Asians are so much cheaper? They don't speak back or give cheek either.

wwinit

With her specialised OT in children, why not find a job in a children's hospital, especially in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong or Singapore? In my view, the health care systems in GCC countries are still behind those in the western world. It might take some time for this kind of specialisation/specialty to be widely accepted. In any hospital, you can see most TCN PT and very few general OT, let alone paediatric OT. On top of that, it is quite a challenge for a female PT or OT to touch Arab male patients; this is a subtle issue partly relating to the religion. Patients may prefer practitioners with the same gender.

OleJanx

[QUOTE=wwinit;11248383 why not find a job in a children's hospital, especially in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong or Singapore?[/QUOTE]

Probably because her husband works in Dubai.

Evilmunki

Thought that but didn't want to say it!