Australia: From the island continent in the South Pacific

My name is Jennifer Frohlich and I graduated with the class of 2004.
After a year of hard work in Canada I found myself on a plane
travelling south, very far away from the hallways of CMCC. I landed in
Sydney, then was off to Melbourne to complete the Australian Board
Exams. A week later I arrived in Brisbane, where I had accepted a
position in a town called Cleveland.

My name is Jennifer Frohlich and I graduated with the class of 2004. After a year of hard work in Canada I found myself on a plane travelling south, very far away from the hallways of CMCC. I landed in Sydney, then was off to Melbourne to complete the Australian Board Exams. A week later I arrived in Brisbane, where I had accepted a position in a town called Cleveland.

I was picked up at the airport by the chiropractor who is responsible for importing quite a few Canadian chiropractors into Australia, Dr. J. Keith Simpson. Keith and Jo-Anne Maire moved to Western Australia to fill two teaching positions at the chiropractic college in Perth, and I was hired to help fill the void at their clinic.

I quickly fell in love with the clinic, the patients, the city and the country. Australians are wonderful people; they are very friendly and they love Canadians, especially us chiropractors.

In 2006, I made the decision to make Australia my home and I filed for permanent residency. Shortly thereafter, I purchased the practice in Cleveland, and added a fellow graduate Dr. Alison Leitch to my practice. In May of 2007 I gave birth to my little man Pearce. For my maternity leave, I added another Canadian chiropractor to my practice, Dr. Stefan Eberspaecher, who continues at the clinic to this day. The patients in the clinic just love all the funny accents that have been at the clinic for over 20 years.

One of the many things I have learned, since being here, is that chiropractors who have trained in North America have a wonderful reputation in Australia. Many people source out Canadian-trained chiropractors, and travel long distances to see us. In my opinion, it has much to do with the excellent evidence-based training Canadian chiropractors receive.

There are two chiropractic associations in Australia: the Chiropractic Association of Australia (CAA) and the Chiropractic and Osteopathic College of Australasia (COCA). The CAA tends to be more principled in their goals, values and motivations, whereas COCA offers evidence-based and rehabilitation focused seminars.

The most common techniques used are Diversified, SOT, Gonstead, Thompson and Activator. It is not uncommon to find acupuncture used in conjunction with chiropractic, here and it is common to hear that patients have been treated with Neuro Emotional Technique. Active Release, Graston and Chiropractic Biophysics are relatively new to the profession, here in Australia.

The last four years have been on fast forward and I can’t believe the many things that I have accomplished.

For new graduates or anyone looking for a change or an adventure I can only speak highly of the opportunities and adventures that are waiting for you in the land down under. Immigration is easy, the Aussie slang takes getting used to and the driving will be the hardest part of coming here – they drive on the wrong side of the road!