Staff series - meet LGH Cardiac Sonographer Maria Plows
More than 2000 people work at the Launceston General Hospital - including Cardiac Sonographer Maria Plows. Here, she shares her story and what she loves most about her work.
“How I came to work at the Launceston General Hospital is a very long story, however I’ll give the shortened version.
It was my now husband who suggested looking at jobs in Australia. As a Cardiac Clinical Physiologist I could not see any relevant jobs with my job title in Australia. So I separated my skill sets. Cardiology echo sonography being one of them.
The first job I saw, I kid you not was a Cardiac Sonographer at the LGH in Tassie. I never thought in a million years I would get the job and thought it would be a good time to update my CV. Then I got the call from Australia. It was the job agent offering me an interview.
I arrived from the UK in February 2016 not knowing anything about the Australian healthcare system.
“Without it sounding like a cliché, I do actually like my job.”
I remember my Head of Department at the time mentioning about Medicare. I hadn’t a clue what she was talking about let alone needing a Medicare number myself. I slowly learnt the ropes. Scanning was my bread and butter and I settled in very quickly.
In the early days I had a 457 visa thinking I was okay with this visa to work. However the rulings changed. I had to get another working visa.
But I was two years too old for the one I needed. So the fight was on to get this visa. Bearing in mind I had moved the contents of my house, imported my car, plus brought my three dogs from England and had used my lifesavings to get to Tassie.
After huge support, guidance and copious meetings with HR, the Director of Cardiology and with my awesome NUM in Cardiology we powered through the bureaucracy.
I continued to have huge support from staff at the hospital and friends outside hospital life. I was also fortunate to have had local Parliament members support and a very good visa lawyer from Hobart.
I remember when my lawyer phoned me and announced that my visa had been granted. As you can imagine I was so relieved. We had done it and I could stay.
I then became an Australian citizen of which I am so proud. This journey has taken me from breaking point to euphoria. I could never have done this without all the people mentioned. So a huge thank you, you all know who you are.
I was asked what was the best bit of my job is. Without it sounding like a cliché, I do actually like my job. I’ve always loved cardiac scanning. Some may say an echo geek.
However, knowing you have given a good service to the best of your ability is incredibly rewarding. I look forward to the changes that surround Cardiology and embrace the new challenges ahead.”