A stepping stone to a medical career - A Mycare Story

“I love helping people, that is why I work for people who use Mycare and eventually want to become a doctor,” says Paula Suguturaga. Before working as a support worker on Mycare, Paula worked in the office.

Paula applied to join as a Mycare staff member when our online company was just starting out. His can-do attitude was immediately apparent at the first interview.

“I remember being interviewed by Amy and I said to her, ‘I haven’t ever done a job like this before but I learn quick and I will prove to you that I’m good.’ They hired me!” says Paula. He was given two weeks to prove himself and that is what he did.

Paula quickly became a valued member of the team and enjoyed working as a Mycare Customer Success Representative. Answering calls and helping people find the work and the support they needed really resonated with Paula.

That was in 2016. The previous year he had immigrated to New Zealand from “the beautiful islands of Fiji” after his mother suggested it would be a good place for him to study. “Mum said she was going and I thought it would be a good opportunity to go to New Zealand, she followed me in the end.”

Paula came to New Zealand to fulfil his dreams of becoming a medical doctor. “I’m studying a Bachelor of Science majoring in microbiology and when that’s finished I will go onto medicine.”

Initially Paula moved to Auckland where he worked in Mycare’s Auckland office. “Everyone knew I wanted to study in Otago, so the day came when I had to come into the office and show them my acceptance letter.”

Since leaving Mycare, Paula has worked as a support worker for various people.  He says, “It’s funny because the other day I was looking through the course requirements for doctors and in the second year we have to do a residential home placement, to give doctors hands-on experience. Working for Mycare clients I already have this experience.”

There are many reasons people join Mycare and seeing how Paula has taken up the challenge of working in various aspects of the business is great. He has seen the app develop steadily and remarks, “Rob [CTO and founder] has done an amazing job developing the app and continuing to improve it.”

Paula says, “I love receiving emails about the latest listings in my area and also all the updates to the app.”

Paula is in the Dunedin area and while he is studying hard at summer school he would be happy to assist anyone that’s looking for support. “I help someone to do stretches at the moment but he just books me when he needs me. It would be nice to have more work.”