Mostafa Elwakil with Calvary John James Hospital general manager Daniel Wood. Photo: Calvary Health Services.
It’s a dream come true for Mostafa Elwakil.
The Egyptian refugee is about to embark on a career in Canberra’s health care system, after six months learning the ropes with an Australian-first program.
“Australia was my dream, and it’s now legitimately come to reality,” he said.
“I want to become a registered nurse here, and finish my master’s degree to work as a nurse practitioner if possible.”
For three years Calvary Health Services has run a ‘Refugee Mentoring Program’, aimed at giving people from refugee or asylum-seeker backgrounds a leg-up into working in Australia’s healthcare system – complete with personal mentors.
“This program provides a variety of opportunities across Calvary, with placements at all of our Canberra sites,” Calvary John James Hospital general manager Daniel Wood said.
“Over three months, participants gain valuable experience, receive a certificate of completion and two references to support future employment.
“We’ve had one of the other participants working with one of our physiotherapy professionals at Calvary John James, and then we’ve had another participant that worked in the hospitality service at John James as well.”
Mr Wood said the normal recruitment processes for these sorts of areas were “intimidating enough for Australians, let alone people who come from other countries”.
“So this program really creates an opportunity to experience and build a relationship with an organization where there’s a possibility of permanent employment at the end. It really gives these people a foot in the door.”
Participants get to work at all three of Calvary’s Canberra sites. Photo: James Coleman.
Participants are sponsored by an agency, like Companion House, the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT), Canberra Refugee Support (CRS), or Migrant and Refugee Settlement Services (MARSS).
About six people go through the program each year, from countries all over the globe. The latest round, including Mr Elwakil, graduated on Thursday, 21 August.
He and his three fellow participants have completed placements in nursing, education, allied health, hospitality, community care, and administration across the Calvary John James and Calvary Bruce Private Hospitals, as well as Calvary Home Care. The next wave of participants will also experience Calvary Haydon Aged Care.
Calvary ran a similar mentoring program at the old Calvary Public Hospital in Bruce, but Mr Wood said staff were still advocating for it to survive the ACT Government’s takeover of the facility and relaunch as North Canberra Hospital.
“Whether it does [survive] remains to be seen,” he said.
Mr Elwakil arrived in Australia in July last year, but with most of his family – including a sister who also wants to get into medicine – still left in Egypt. Sponsored by CIT, he spent most of his time in the program at the Calvary Bruce Private Hospital, assisting staff in the Hyson Green mental health unit.
“I liked helping the nursing staff when they needed and really valued the time I spent talking to the mental health consumers at Hyson Green,” Mr Elwakil said.
“I really like the program and have learned a lot of new skills. In Australia, there is a lot more modern technology, which is the biggest difference [to Egypt].”
He had extensive training in Egypt, where he practised as a paediatric nurse in an intensive-care unit.
“We’re fortunate to have him as a registered nurse working in the community,” Mr Wood said.
“And going forward, we’ll do what we can to support him to get to his goals and ambitions of getting back to that level of nursing in Australia.”
From September, visitors will find Mr Elwakil as an assistant nurse in Calvary Bruce Private Hospital’s Surgical and Medical Department.
Prospective applicants can register their interest for the program on the Calvary Health Care website.
