Non-EU citizen, EU education

[georges1992]

hello, I'm an non-EU medical student at Saint George's university of London in Nicosia campus. I will graduate in 2017 with an MBBS-4 degree from Saint george's london. after, graduation my UK degree won't be fully licensed until i complete the foundation years in UK, but from what I understood that in Sweden it is possible to go through an AT internship program and get licensed after that in order to start specializing in Sweden. Being an non-EU with a UK medical degree would be a problem ?

[Nils]

Having a EU medical degree puts you on the fast track as far as the credentials are concerned, in the sense that your degree is automatically recognised.

You will still have to apply for a Swedish (work) residence permit, and pass the Swedish language ability requirements, however.

[georgesR1992]

thank you Nils for your reply.
Sorry I'm posting from another account but the thing is I lost my old account.
I was in Sweden in July and in October and I asked some doctors there and I even emailed the national board "socialstyrelsen", they told me since UK is not an EU member state then I have to go through the AT internship and later get the licence to practice.
Being an Non-EU citizen, do you think this might cause some problems with the procedure and getting a spot in the internship program. I already have family in Sweden and some connections with doctors there.
Thank you in advance

[another visitor]

I'm sorry, but this sounds totally bananas!
Is not the UK regarded as part of the EU anymore? Since when? My spontaneous reaction is that you have either (1) been misinformed, (2) misunderstood the information given or (3) that the education at Saint George's without the FY-1 only counts as a medical degree, and you need a medical license (only issued after FY-1) to be able to be eligible to go skip AT.

You being a non-EU citizen does not hinder you converting a British medical license (issued after completing FY-1) or applying to get your medical education validated and the be able to do the AT (after the language test, of course).

But anyway, you want to do the AT, right? Thus, this is just what you wanted, is it not? If that is the case, then I would talk to Socialstyrelsen again and ask them about what you need to do in order to be eligible to do the AT.

Please keep us posted on their answer and your progress!
Best of luck

[georgesR1992]

thank you for your reply.

I have already contacted the "Socialstyrelsen" in July when I was in Stockholm and this was their response:
"EU Member State where doctors of medicine can receive licence to practice immediately after graduating should apply for a licence to practice. The UK is not a Member State were you receive a licence to practice immediately after graduation. you can therefore either apply for internship in Sweden after you have graduated from Medical School or apply for a licence to practice after been fully registered in the UK."

So, I have 2 choices either I go through the AT internship in Sweden (after passing the language test as you said) or do the FY-1 in UK and then apply for licensing in Sweden.

I have some difficulties going through the FY-1 in UK. I am studying at Saint George's university of London in Cyprus (nicosia), SGUL are delivering their program in Cyprus with the affiliation of University of Nicosia. Although, after graduating from here I have an SGUL UK medical degree, I still have a problem getting into FY-1. I will be offered a spot in the foundation program but I won't be able to secure it since I am not an EEA/UK citizen (I don't have the right to work in UK). The FY-1 process is an exception where you have to secure the right to work on your own and then you get the job at the hospital (all the hospitals are under NHS control). Whereas in all other fields of work, you get the job offer then they offer you a work permit.

To conclude, my plan was to go to UK do my FY-1 then get GMC licensed and come to Sweden for specialty (since I have family in Stockholm), this choice is nearly impossible. I am thinking about the AT internship in Sweden now, but I am wondering if I will have the same problems with work permit and securing a spot in the AT program.

Thank you for your reply again.

[Nils]

Unfortunately, I can not assess your prospects of getting a Swedish work permit. Perhaps the SMA (SLF) could be of more assistance regarding that.
https://www.slf.se/Info-in-English/

A third option for you, besides the UK and Sweden, might be working towards a medical license in another EU country. In the list below, I would guess that Ireland and Malta could be interesting options for you.

Har du en utbildning från Irland, Italien, Liechtenstein, Litauen*, Luxemburg, Malta, Polen*, Portugal eller Storbritannien kan du skicka in en ansökan till oss.

https://www.socialstyrelsen.se/ansokaom ... iz/lakare3

[intelligent_poet]

Hej
I'm a Swedish national with a medical degree from outside the EU,
I'm wondering about a couple of things regarding Swedish AT and residency training?
1) Apart from Swedish language is there another exam I have to take in order to start the AT programe?
2) How long roughly after having my qualifications recognised by socialstyrelsen do I wait for a spot in AT?
3) What is the average time period between finishing AT and securing a residency post?

Thanks in advance for answering these questions

[another visitor]

Hello intelligent_poet and welcome to the forum!

Now to your questions:

1) Apart from Swedish language is there another exam I have to take in order to start the AT programe?

You state that you are a Swedish national, have you graduated from a Swedish gymnasium? If so, you may have taken the course Svenska 3, which allows you to skip the Swedish proficiency test. Read more at
https://www.socialstyrelsen.se/applicat ... ries/step2

2) How long roughly after having my qualifications recognised by socialstyrelsen do I wait for a spot in AT?

This depends on a bunch of stuff, roughly generalised to (a) your merits and (b) the popularity/competition at the hospital where you want to do AT.
With merits, I refere to work experience as underläkare (junior doctor) - a position where you work as a doctor, prior to starting AT - and research experience. The latter is "only" relevant if toy apply for Forskar-AT (https://www.slf.se/SYLF/SYLF-tycker/For ... Forskar-AT).

It is very common of Swedish graduates to work as underläkare for a time, before securing a spot in the AT-program. The time spent working ranges from 6-24 months, with 19 being the national average. A rule of thumb is that the more popular the hospital, the number of months required increases. Of course, there are example of people being offered an AT-spot with little to no prior work experience, but in my humble opinion that is to be considered the exception to the rule.

3) What is the average time period between finishing AT and securing a residency post?

Your opportunity to start residency (ST) depends on (a) what speciality you're interested in, (b) where you want to live/work and (c) when you want to start. Usually, you only get two of these three preferences accommodated. In the bigger hospitals it is pretty much standard to first work for a time (6-12 months) at the department you want to do residency in, in order for both you and your employer to get to know each other, before you are offered an official ST.
Of course, like with the AT, there are people with stellar merits (and sharp elbows? ), who even at University hospitals manage to secure a residency spot in competitive fields. As said earlier, this is the exception to the rule. At small to medium sized hospitals and/or in rural- or "outer rim of the University hospital" areas, it is more common for people to during AT get offered a residency spot at a clinic you rotate at.

Summa summarum: if you're interested in a competitive field and/or work at a University hospital, expect to work some time before securing an official residency spot.

Luckily, the time spent working once licensed can under certain conditions be taken into account once you landed a residency post . Rest assure, once you're in the AT-program, there will be plenty of time to talk to your colleagues about this.


Best of luck, and please keep us posted on your progress!

[missbraun]

Hello intelligent_poet! Another visitor gave you a super complete response, just wanted to add one thing on your first question

1) Apart from Swedish language is there another exam I have to take in order to start the AT programe?

Since you said that your medical degree is from outside the EU, you are also required to take a ''medicinskt kunskapsprov'' in this case the TULE test, which is taken twice a year (feb and sept).

Also, you can bypass this test by taking the KUL programme (Kompletterande utbildning för legitimation) held at the University of Gothenburg, Karolinska Institutet and Linköping University. This course takes one year.

Here are the links that explain all I have mentioned above:
http://www.informationsverige.se/Engels ... yrken.aspx
http://ki.se/utbildning/tule-provet
http://ki.se/utbildning/kompletterande- ... gitimation

Best of luck!

[georgesR1992]

Hello another visitor,

You've posted the following: "With merits, I refere to work experience as underläkare (junior doctor) - a position where you work as a doctor, prior to starting AT - and research experience."

What are the requirements to work as an underläkare ?

I have a UK degree but i'm not fully licensed in UK ( I have a provisional license from the GMC) I want to apply to the AT in order to get fully licensed in Sweden.
Thank you