Dissertation about immigrant physicians in Sweden

Accreditation, permit of residence, language, licensing, specialist training, et cetera.
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Dissertation about immigrant physicians in Sweden

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http://www.forskning.se/nyheterfakta/ny ... dning.html
forskning.se skrev:The number of physicians with a foreign medical degree is steadily increasing in Sweden. A dissertation at Uppsala University focuses on the physicians' personal stories about coming to Sweden, the conditions they face and how they integrate in the Swedish medical profession.

That an increasing number of Swedish physicians have a foreign medical degree has been given attention in media and professional-political debates. It has been pointed out that the abilities of this group are often not used as well as could be the case, even though the shortage of physicians is seen as a growing problem. International research emphasises that migrant physicians are attracted from economically weak countries ("brain drain") but it is only recently that attention is being given to what the migrant physicians themselves have to say and what they think about their situation in their new country.

In this dissertation, 15 physicians are interviewed about their experiences. Particular attention is given to their negotiations and their sense of belonging in the Swedish medical profession in relation to the "immigrant position" they are attributed with.

"The study shows that the physicians seem to feel that they are being seen as a type of 'outsider within', a position which they resist to some degree but also make use of to create a place for themselves within the Swedish medical profession," says Lisa Salomonsson, Phd Student at Uppsala University's department of sociology.

In the interviews the physicians talk about, among other things, how they try to behave as 'Swedish' as possible, while at the same time emphasising that they have an advantage when it comes to taking care of patients who also have an immigrant background. These stories are then related to the underlying assumptions about intercultural healthcare and the meaning of being an immigrant.

"It turns out that it is important for these physicians to find the right persons to 'get in'. It is about getting a Swedish medical license and also about feeling a sense of belonging. This is something that there is no formal structure for, which means that the responsibility often rests with the individual physician," says Lisa Salomonsson.

The dissertation also demonstrates how the physicians in different ways negotiate with and relate to negative and stereotypical conceptions about immigrants that they feel they are facing in Sweden.
Lisa Salomonsson's disputation took place on the 9th of June this year.

You can find the dissertation here:
http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/div ... TEXT01.pdf

Some discussion (in Swedish) about this dissertation can also be found here:
http://www.lakartidningen.se/Aktuellt/N ... outsiders/