Dr Cyrus on locuming across Australia & New Zealand

Locuming gives junior doctors the chance to gain clinical breadth, grow professionally, and experience new environments. For Dr Cyrus, it was the perfect way to broaden his experience, travel, and avoid the repetition of house officer rotations.

He seamlessly locumed across Australia and New Zealand as a PGY3, working in Taupō, Port Macquarie, and Darwin. These placements let him explore diverse health systems, connect with new cultures, and enjoy life outside medicine, from discovering Aboriginal traditions in the Northern Territory to visiting world-class national parks.

We spoke with Dr Cyrus about what locuming has given him, both inside and outside the hospital.

Can you tell me a bit about why you became a doctor?

In my previous endeavours I had worked as a medical laboratory scientist in Brisbane, Australia. Once the career progression there started to dry up I decided to give studying Medicine a shot to try something new.

It was fortunately a relatively easy transition given I already had a strong background in health sciences from my prior career.

What was your motivation for locuming in Australia and New Zealand?

I had already lined up a job as an emergency medicine registrar in the second half of 2025, I made the decision to locum for a while because I wanted to broaden my experiences and travel for a bit. I was not keen on the idea of staying as a house officer just continuing to do the same rotations.

What about locuming has surprised you most?

I was most surprised about how easy it was to set up and the availability of work. Medrecruit were excellent in that regard and helped make the process extremely simple by providing all the forms I needed to sign and essentially just telling me what I need to do.

What would you say are the pros and cons of working in each country as a locum?

I was fortunate enough to work both countries as a Locum. While NZ has lower pay, more of the locum positions tended to provide accommodation and travel whereas in Australia, the pay was higher but was more unpredictable as to whether travel and accommodation was provided. Sometimes I only had accommodation provided which made it more difficult to travel around on my own in Australia. Many times the bigger central cities would not come with either.

How has locuming enriched your lifestyle in any way?

Locum was an extremely enriching experience, I was able to travel to places and experience cultures I had never experienced. For example, since I had primarily worked in NZ I had not ever really encountered Aboriginal culture. Being able to work in Darwin and work with these communities was extremely interesting as I got to experience how their traditions influence their lifestyles.

It was particularly interesting also being able to share my experiences working with indigenous people in NZ with my Australian colleagues and comparing the differences and similarities in how our healthcare systems operate. I have been humbled that my career has allowed me to visit all these different locations that I would never have been able to experience without locuming.

What sort of activities or travel have you been enjoying outside of work?

Aside from work, I generally enjoy going bouldering and playing tennis. I have needed to catch up on these activities as I did not bring the equipment I required when I moved over to Australia to locum!

Are there any locations you’ve locumed at that you particularly enjoyed or had memorable experiences?

I had excellent experiences in all my locum placements at Taupo NZ, Port Macquarie AUS and Darwin AUS! Darwin in particular was an extremely unique opportunity and felt much different then any places I had worked or visited in my life. The different wet and dry seasons and vibrant market life was a highlight as were the national parks (Litchfield, Kakadu) I was able to visit.

How does Medrecruit support you as a doctor, in general and with locuming in Australia and New Zealand?

Medrecruit were excellent in supporting me throughout my journey from the very beginning from applying for registration and completing all the relevant forms. I had heard from other friends who had travelled to Australia and had difficulty and confusion with all the different forms and numbers they needed to apply for. Medrecruit simplified that by giving me a ready made checklist of what I needed to do.

I was very impressed with the timeliness of support from Medrecruit, I recall a week where I was able to secure additional work at Taupo after talking to the clinical director there. While Medrecruit had only initially booked my accommodation for the week as was originally planned, I was able to call over the weekend to a Medrecruit representative who helped me sort out additional accommodation!

Would you have any advice for other doctors who are thinking about locuming?

My advice to doctors who are thinking about doing locums would be to stay flexible, new jobs or opportunities can come in at practically any moment. Be ready to have to move on short notice!