G’day from Australia, how are you?
I’m Vilja, a 3rd year paramedicine student from TAMK. I’m doing my exchange in Western Sydney University right now and will tell you about my experiences here!
I arrived in Australia in February 2026 with one of my classmates. We wanted to make the most of the time here, so we planned our exchange so that we’ll travel before it and after. Before the exchange we travelled in Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Byron Bay. We stayed in different hostels, hotels and also in a rented campervan for our ride on the Great Ocean Road (which we drove ourselves). We saw the most amazing scenery and heeps of different places. We met so many wonderful people and had the funniest experiences together!
Here during our exchange we had four weeks of uni with the 2nd and 3rd years. We had four different courses with them, which were paramedicine care 1, safety and quality in paramedicine, paramedicine care of diverse patients and paramedicine trauma care. On those classes we noticed straight away that they have so many practical classes here. There were only a few theoretical classes and the rest were pracs. In pracs we wore the same uniforms we’re now using in placement. At school we got to see heeps of simulations for example of trauma patients and difficult mental health patient situations. They were super interesting to see and to participate in as well! Me and my classmate usually watched them or participated in them as patients or paramedics. On the last class we even went into the same group and did one sim together! Our teacher was very proud of us 😉 At school we also got some very cool opportunities to participate in, for example a HEMS day and a dissection class. They were super cool experiences and taught a lot of different areas of healthcare.
At school we met a lot of wonderful people who we became friends with. We’ve seen them outside of school too a lot and one day even got invited to one guy’s birthday party which was a pub golf themed. It was so much fun and we really felt like a part of their group and class!
Me and my roommate’s rosters are completely opposite now in placements, so it’s definitely been nice to have some people from the class to spend the days off with! On my free time here in Sydney, I’ve spent most of my days on different beaches. My absolute favourites are Manly and Coogee, where I go almost every free time if it’s a good weather! Me and my classmate have also been shopping and eating out a lot. All the food here is so fresh and tasty, it’s unbelievable… I’ve also been trying to walk around the city as much as I can and get to see all the corners of Sydney. To be honest, that’s impossible hence Sydney is HUGE… But I’ve seen heeps of different places, so I’ve done a pretty good job! Our school mates have also been taking us out to different spots outside the city by car, for example the Blue Mountains, and we also spent one day with one of our teachers who wanted to take us kindly to the Royal National Park.
The placement has been such a cool experience! It’s located in Haberfield Superstation, which is a superstation right near the city centre. The superstation is a large station that combines several small ambulance stations. The station is one of the busiest ones in Sydney and employs over a hundred paramedics. Our rosters always follow the same pattern. We have four shifts in a row of which the first three (6:45-19, 7:15-19:30, 10:45-23) were day shifts and the last one a nightshift (18:45-7:00). After the shifts there’s five days off. In Finland the rosters are very different: either they are two days on 12 hour shifts, two days off – or one 24 hour shift and three days off.
The shifts here are super busy. You need to have all your stuff and food with you on the road since it’s likely you won’t go to the station not even once after leaving there at the start of the shift. By far now the average amount of jobs per shift has been around 6 or 7. In Finland it’s around 2 or 3, but it’s natural that the amounts differ a lot since Sydney’s population is bigger than the whole Finland…
On my shifts I’ve learned so many new words and can see my progression on every shift. To be honest, this placement has challenged me more than anything ever, but it has also been so rewarding. I started the placement by just taking obs but now I’m already handling the history takings, handovers and even writing the patient papers. I’d say doing the paperwork has been the most challenging part, and I’ve heard that not even the students here do the paperwork. But, my preceptors have wanted me to try and do everything I can, because I’ve been actually already wondering about applying for a job here once I graduate! But we’ll see how things work out in a year…
After the placement, in two weeks, we’ll pack up our stuff again and head towards the rest of our travelling before going back home… We’ll still go for example to Fiji, Noosa, K’gari and Whitsundays, so there’s still a lot to experience. No matter what happens for the rest of the trip, coming here has been the best decision ever since day one! I’d suggest this for anyone who is willing to challenge themselves whilst enjoying the greatest weather of all time 😉
Finally, I’ll add some pictures of the trip so far at the end of the blog. Hope you enjoyed my writings!
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