When I was making the decision to go to Australia, someone at home said to me: ‘What is for you won’t go by you.’ I knew this would be a great opportunity to work as a veterinary nurse in another country. To learn the different ways they do things. I never thought I would get the chance to be working abroad, but I am happy here.”
According to Google maps, there are 15,022km between Ballinascarthy and Perth. Similarly, Ann-Marie Moyles has come a long way since she took the decision to study animal care with veterinary nursing. But how did a west Cork farmers’ daughter go from working in a private practice in Clonakilty to becoming an equine nurse at Murdoch University in Perth?
To road to veterinary nursing
“I grew up on a pig and beef farm. I suppose my main involvement in the farm would have been 
helping out with the ponies. We used to breed Welsh and Connemara ponies and show them around Munster at the agricultural shows. Unlike a lot of kids, I wouldn’t have done playschool. My playschool would have been working in the piggery and with the ponies. In many ways that was the best early education I could have gotten, given my future career,” she laughs.
Moyles began her college education in 2004. Her decision to study animal care with veterinary nursing came out of her love for working with animals. An obvious choice. She started by completing a two-year FETAC level course at St John’s College of Further Education in Cork.
“That gave me a great grounding and the array of subjects we studied kept my options open, which was great. In my second year of the course I would have specialised in veterinary nursing.”
A three-year veterinary nursing diploma from UCD (now a four-year Level 8 degree) followed for Moyles in 2006. This hands-on course enabled her to work at Faxbridge Veterinary Hospital in Clonakilty throughout the course where she remained until she left Ireland.
Working abroad
“I left Ireland in January 2011, when a lot of people were leaving the country. I suppose I was fortunate that I left of my own volition. My friends and I travelled each summer and we wanted to continue doing this. We explored southeast Asia for a number of months and landed in Perth in March 2011,” she explained.
For many, going into the unknown is the biggest fear factor of travel. Certainly finding employment in a qualified area can be a sticking point, with job prospects as well as documentation sometimes proving difficult. Luckily for Moyles, the demand for veterinary nurses in Australia is quite high.
“Of course I had my homework done and I researched jobs in veterinary nursing in Australia before applying. Equine veterinary nurses would be in short supply here, as there is a lack of specific training for equine nurses in Australia. So it was not difficult to find work when I got there due to my Irish qualification.
“I was lucky when I landed in Perth. I arrived there on Monday and by Wednesday I applied for a job in veterinary nursing at Murdoch University. I went in for a chat with them on Thursday, I had the job by Friday and I started the following Monday. Perth was good for me; the minute I landed it just felt right,” she explained.
Paperwork and research
There are plenty of opportunities for veterinary nurses looking to travel to work in Australia. Agencies such as Vetlink and Kookaburra Veterinary Employment source workers for the veterinary industry.
Moyles does warn, however, that getting paperwork in order is a must. Each region in Australia has different rules when it comes to being registered by the respective vet councils in Australia. She learned the hard way herself and advises individuals to do their research before applying.
“I always advise any vet nurse thinking of coming to Australia to contact the vet council of the particular state they are planning on working in. When I arrived in Perth I hadn’t registered with the vet council in Western Australia. But again luck was on my side, as another UCD vet nurse had previously registered and the course was reviewed and recognised by the council. If this had not been the case, it could have taken two months before I could work as a vet nurse.”
A career going full circle
Moyles’ career has gone full circle in Australia. She worked at Murdoch University in 2011 for four months, and returned there in March 2015. The years in between were spent traveling and working at various other veterinary practices across Australia. For a brief period she returned home to Ireland, before deciding to jet back out to Australia with the prospect of a job and visa sponsorship upon arrival.
Life in Australia
“There is better work-life balance in Australia. Wages are also better here than in Ireland, but the cost of living in Perth is certainly higher, so it all evens out.”
A question she is often asked is will she ever return?
“That is the million dollar question, isn’t it. If you asked me before 2011 would I be working abroad I wouldn’t know what to say. In 2012 my plans went out the window when I decided to return again. The morning I wake up and I am not happy here, I will leave. For now, I’m happy; I have a great circle of friends from all over the world. That is important.”
All in all, Moyles has developed a successful career overseas. In 2016 she addressed the Veterinary Nursing Council of Australia conference in Perth, and in 2017 she spoke at the Bain Fallon conference in the Gold Coast. Next March the 33-year-old will speak at the World Veterinary Association Conference in New Zealand. It may be 15,022km, but for the time being Moyles feels at home.
When I was making the decision to go to Australia, someone at home said to me: ‘What is for you won’t go by you.’ I knew this would be a great opportunity to work as a veterinary nurse in another country. To learn the different ways they do things. I never thought I would get the chance to be working abroad, but I am happy here.”
According to Google maps, there are 15,022km between Ballinascarthy and Perth. Similarly, Ann-Marie Moyles has come a long way since she took the decision to study animal care with veterinary nursing. But how did a west Cork farmers’ daughter go from working in a private practice in Clonakilty to becoming an equine nurse at Murdoch University in Perth?
To road to veterinary nursing
“I grew up on a pig and beef farm. I suppose my main involvement in the farm would have been
helping out with the ponies. We used to breed Welsh and Connemara ponies and show them around Munster at the agricultural shows. Unlike a lot of kids, I wouldn’t have done playschool. My playschool would have been working in the piggery and with the ponies. In many ways that was the best early education I could have gotten, given my future career,” she laughs.
Moyles began her college education in 2004. Her decision to study animal care with veterinary nursing came out of her love for working with animals. An obvious choice. She started by completing a two-year FETAC level course at St John’s College of Further Education in Cork.
“That gave me a great grounding and the array of subjects we studied kept my options open, which was great. In my second year of the course I would have specialised in veterinary nursing.”
A three-year veterinary nursing diploma from UCD (now a four-year Level 8 degree) followed for Moyles in 2006. This hands-on course enabled her to work at Faxbridge Veterinary Hospital in Clonakilty throughout the course where she remained until she left Ireland.
Working abroad
“I left Ireland in January 2011, when a lot of people were leaving the country. I suppose I was fortunate that I left of my own volition. My friends and I travelled each summer and we wanted to continue doing this. We explored southeast Asia for a number of months and landed in Perth in March 2011,” she explained.
For many, going into the unknown is the biggest fear factor of travel. Certainly finding employment in a qualified area can be a sticking point, with job prospects as well as documentation sometimes proving difficult. Luckily for Moyles, the demand for veterinary nurses in Australia is quite high.
“Of course I had my homework done and I researched jobs in veterinary nursing in Australia before applying. Equine veterinary nurses would be in short supply here, as there is a lack of specific training for equine nurses in Australia. So it was not difficult to find work when I got there due to my Irish qualification.
“I was lucky when I landed in Perth. I arrived there on Monday and by Wednesday I applied for a job in veterinary nursing at Murdoch University. I went in for a chat with them on Thursday, I had the job by Friday and I started the following Monday. Perth was good for me; the minute I landed it just felt right,” she explained.
Paperwork and research
There are plenty of opportunities for veterinary nurses looking to travel to work in Australia. Agencies such as Vetlink and Kookaburra Veterinary Employment source workers for the veterinary industry.
Moyles does warn, however, that getting paperwork in order is a must. Each region in Australia has different rules when it comes to being registered by the respective vet councils in Australia. She learned the hard way herself and advises individuals to do their research before applying.
“I always advise any vet nurse thinking of coming to Australia to contact the vet council of the particular state they are planning on working in. When I arrived in Perth I hadn’t registered with the vet council in Western Australia. But again luck was on my side, as another UCD vet nurse had previously registered and the course was reviewed and recognised by the council. If this had not been the case, it could have taken two months before I could work as a vet nurse.”
A career going full circle
Moyles’ career has gone full circle in Australia. She worked at Murdoch University in 2011 for four months, and returned there in March 2015. The years in between were spent traveling and working at various other veterinary practices across Australia. For a brief period she returned home to Ireland, before deciding to jet back out to Australia with the prospect of a job and visa sponsorship upon arrival.
Life in Australia
“There is better work-life balance in Australia. Wages are also better here than in Ireland, but the cost of living in Perth is certainly higher, so it all evens out.”
A question she is often asked is will she ever return?
“That is the million dollar question, isn’t it. If you asked me before 2011 would I be working abroad I wouldn’t know what to say. In 2012 my plans went out the window when I decided to return again. The morning I wake up and I am not happy here, I will leave. For now, I’m happy; I have a great circle of friends from all over the world. That is important.”
All in all, Moyles has developed a successful career overseas. In 2016 she addressed the Veterinary Nursing Council of Australia conference in Perth, and in 2017 she spoke at the Bain Fallon conference in the Gold Coast. Next March the 33-year-old will speak at the World Veterinary Association Conference in New Zealand. It may be 15,022km, but for the time being Moyles feels at home.
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