Daisy Hill 'the best place anyone can start their career'

​Dr Anikita Dash has come to Northern Ireland from India and is working as a SHO in the hospital’s medicine department.

She said that she had been most nervous about “the people and the work environment”.

But she added, “Honestly, working here with the staff is so supportive. I think I don’t want to go anywhere, I think this is the best place anyone can start their career.”

She said her colleagues have really helped her settle into life in the Newry hospital.

“They are wonderful. I never expected that they would be so welcoming, so warm.

“The documentation and the way we see patients might be different but the staff are wonderful.

“Since it’s a new thing for us we keep asking questions but [the staff] always try to help us.”

Hospital staff and the Southern Trust’s Remedium team played a key role in helping doctor dash make the move, which Dr Dash said was “very smooth”.

“They gave us an accommodation to stay in for six weeks while we looked for accommodation outside.

“For every little question we approached them and they were always there to answer it.”

Dr Dash said she was most excited “to work in a new environment and learn new things.”

She added, “This is so much different from what we do in India. It’s such a beautiful place but now I’m more excited for the summer to come in. When I came here it was peak winter and the daylight was really small but now the daylight is getting bigger, it’s getting warmer now. I must say I’m getting used to the cold. I used to shiver but now I can just go out with just putting on one jacket.”

She said she would advise other international doctors who were thinking about working in Northern Ireland to make the move here.

“If you are new to the NHS then definitely come to Northern Ireland, start your career here because there are people supporting you here. I didn’t see such supportive staff while I was doing my clinical attachment back in England.”

She chose to work in Northern Ireland because “it was very appealing for someone who was in a different community, a different country and a different continent altogether.

“It felt like I could adjust myself to the surroundings so that is one of the reasons.”