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From Slovakia

Postat: 04 sep 2012, 21:30
av Duricome
Hello,
I am an EU citizen (Slovakia) and I've graduated from school of medicine in EU (Czech republic) recently. I would really like to move to Sweden and therefore I am kindly asking for help and advice. Our school lasts for 6 years. I dont know if to apply for AT or ST. In both mentioned countries we are applying for residencies for certain specialties. Those programs consist of 2 parts which include practise at several other departments, which is thought to be crucial for the particular specialty. For example progress of becoming cardiosurgeon consits of general surigcal part(internship?) ( anesteziology 2 months, intern 2 months, surgery 9 months, cardiosugery 6 months, traumthology 5 months) and the main specialty part which last another few years. General practiocioner in the general part has more intern, paediatrics, less surgery and so on. Therefore I am bit confused if to apply for AT or ST. Our studies last bit longer (I think) and we spend last 3 years in hospital at all possible departments. I am not sure which part of all the process is equivalent of internship (AT). I will rly appreciate all advices.

Re: How to become a doctor in Sweden?

Postat: 05 sep 2012, 00:06
av Nils
Hello Duricome!

AT is the Swedish medical licensing process. If you already have a medical license from another EU country, you do not apply for AT (in fact, you can not even be admitted if you already have a medical license which is valid in Sweden).

ST is the residency / specialist training process. In order to apply, you must first have a medical license which is valid in Sweden.

I hope this answer helped - feel free to ask more questions if anything was ambiguous or if anything else comes to mind.
:)

Re: How to become a doctor in Sweden?

Postat: 09 sep 2012, 16:54
av Duricome
Thank you for your reply. What are the chances for me as EU citizen getting the license? Approximate waiting time to get it? Some say it will be hard to get job as doctor in Sweden since I am foreigner. Can you give me your opinion? And thx again :)

Re: How to become a doctor in Sweden?

Postat: 11 sep 2012, 18:15
av Nils
Do you have a Slovak medical license?

As for the difficulty of getting a job in Sweden, it depends on your merits and where you apply. If you are prepared to take a job anywhere, you would most likely get one; if you want to get a job at one of the university hospitals, you would probably need strong merits (preferably in research) and / or good connections.

Re: How to become a doctor in Sweden?

Postat: 04 okt 2012, 15:40
av Duricome
Well, I've contacted a friend that works as doctor in Sweden. She studied at same university and told me to apply directly for läkarlegitimation. I don't mind that much about working in some smaller towns, smaller hospitals. I have one problem. I can try learn language myself, but I would like to know if there is any possibility of getting a job and doing a language course at the same time. Because I don't have enough money to just live in Sweden and learn the language and nobody to provide financial support. I got a nice reply from someone about getting a job.

The part of the reply
"A Swedish “läkarlegitimation” entitles you to a specialist training post but you must apply for residency in open competition where knowledge of the Swedish language and clinical experience are vital factors. You can do your specialist training as an “ST-läkare” at any hospital in Sweden. Most vacancies are advertised in the Medical Journal (Läkartidningen) which is published weekly. You will find information about working in Sweden on our webpage https://www.slf.se/Info-in-English/.

So I wanted to ask, how big is that competition if I don't aim for a job at university hospital? And that clinical experience :D ... well ...I've just finished school, so I think ..there is just a little :D

Re: How to become a doctor in Sweden?

Postat: 07 okt 2012, 16:06
av Nils
A few years ago the county councils (the organizations that manage health care in Sweden) offered language training to immigrant doctors but the international recession seems to have caused a cut in funding for such programs. It might be possible to get an internship or a non-doctor job while doing language training.

How did your friend from your university go about learning the language and working as a doctor in Sweden?

Anyway, you can find more information about learning Swedish here:
http://www.studyinsweden.se/Learn-Swedish/

(The site is, however, currently down because of attacks from "Anonymous":
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/ ... us_threats
http://www.cio.com/article/718115/Swedi ... omyId=3089
http://www.thelocal.se/43608/20121004/
http://www.thelocal.se/43640/20121005/)


I also found this discussion thread on an international forum:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=530214

Once you know enough Swedish to work as a general practitioner, you should be able to find such jobs and get the desired clinical experience from them.

There is still a surplus of available physician positions in Sweden, so getting a job should be pretty easy if you go for the more rural areas (north, southeast, inland). Those areas also tend to pay better than the more urban areas.

Re: How to become a doctor in Sweden?

Postat: 21 okt 2012, 14:38
av Duricome
She is friend of my friend to be precise. So she's not responding that well. :D Therefore I don't know yet how she has done all that. My other friend took a loan and went to sweden to undergo " EU/EAA citizens: Qualifying Course in Swedish: LiU in English: Linköping University ". Her boyfriend has a flat there and someone to help her. I don't wanna take any loans, so I am studying swedish by myself. I enjoy it :), even though starts are always hard. I'll take a swedish proficiency test when ready (TISUS? i think). I am starting as a surgeon in our country and after a year, when I earn some money and learn the language I hope to move to Sweden. May sound bit dreamy, but as they say "the person with a dream is more powerful than one with all the facts". And I don't mind if I'll have to work as general practitioner there. So Mr. Nils, thank you so much for you help so far :)

Re: How to become a doctor in Sweden?

Postat: 28 okt 2012, 17:00
av Nils
Good luck with your plans! :)