Moi!
I got accepted to an AMK and will start studying there starting August. My school specifically [Not sure if other schools require this as well?] mentioned in my admission e-mail that all non-finnish students need to fill out a TB-screening document in order to ensure that everyone has all vaccines they need and isn't infected with tuberculosis. So far so good, all of that isn't an issue.
However they also ask us to get a chest x-ray [Likely to make sure that we really don't have tuberculosis] and that's where the problem lies. I am already living in Finland, and getting one in my home country is not an option for me whatsoever [And probably wouldn't work anyway]. I need to have this x-ray done by the time my school year starts. School told me it's absolutely necessary to get one. I contacted my local health center about it and they were very confused and in the end told me that getting one there isn't really possible because they don't do x-rays to check for a tuberculosis infection but use a different method instead. So what do I do now? Does anyone have any ideas where I can go to get a chest x-ray? Does anyone else have to do this, too?
School requires chest x-ray - But where?
Re: School requires chest x-ray - But where?
It might not be about your school, but an immigration requirement if you are from a country with a high prevalence for TB. And rubbish. Yes they do x-rays for TB. One of my acquaintances had one last year after the TB scare associated with a high school in Helsinki (those who saw the articles will remember it).
Hers was arranged by the local public health service here in Helsinki as she is a citizen and resident.
The skin test is probably what the staff member was thinking. I'd explain that immigration requires you to have an x-ray. There's absolutely no reason why Turku hasn't the facilities to do this - although you might, understandably, have to pay. If the public centre won't do it then go to a private doctor, which can certainly refer you.
Before you do, get clarification from your school whether you definitely need it - tell them you were already living here, if you are here already on some other kind of residence permit. It's possible they meant "for people moving to Finland for the first time".
Hers was arranged by the local public health service here in Helsinki as she is a citizen and resident.
The skin test is probably what the staff member was thinking. I'd explain that immigration requires you to have an x-ray. There's absolutely no reason why Turku hasn't the facilities to do this - although you might, understandably, have to pay. If the public centre won't do it then go to a private doctor, which can certainly refer you.
Before you do, get clarification from your school whether you definitely need it - tell them you were already living here, if you are here already on some other kind of residence permit. It's possible they meant "for people moving to Finland for the first time".
Re: School requires chest x-ray - But where?
There was a scare in Tampere last year too. My son had to have emergency screening after someone in his class fell ill and they were even told they might be quarantined. There was also a fair dose of scaremongering (the disease is fatal... 
)
Get a paper from the AMK (an email or a printout from their website) and take it to your health centre. According to this - it is free: externalfile:drive-b17e2c417829008a13bb30bb41f01b4279d1b786/root/PHOTOS/Tiedote tuberkuloosista Englanti.pdf
but I'm not sure who published that document (I just found it when I googled)
You can also asked FSHS (Finnish Student Health Service) for more information http://www.yths.fi/en/services/services_free_of_charge
And here: http://tuberkuloosi.fi/en/
)Get a paper from the AMK (an email or a printout from their website) and take it to your health centre. According to this - it is free: externalfile:drive-b17e2c417829008a13bb30bb41f01b4279d1b786/root/PHOTOS/Tiedote tuberkuloosista Englanti.pdf
but I'm not sure who published that document (I just found it when I googled)
You can also asked FSHS (Finnish Student Health Service) for more information http://www.yths.fi/en/services/services_free_of_charge
And here: http://tuberkuloosi.fi/en/
Re: School requires chest x-ray - But where?
@Leisl: I'm from a central-European country where tuberculosis isn't really prevalent whatsoever. :p This also can't be a requirement for my immigration, since I have already been living here for around a year at this point; I also brought this up to the school [Both where I'm from, and the fact that I've been here for a while already] and they insisted that everyone who is not from Finland has to provide them with a recent chest x-ray. Thank you for your advice!
@Rosamunda: Thank you for your advice! I'll ask my AMK for a document that states that I definitely need to get this x-ray and ask my health center about it again once I have that.
@Rosamunda: Thank you for your advice! I'll ask my AMK for a document that states that I definitely need to get this x-ray and ask my health center about it again once I have that.
Re: School requires chest x-ray - But where?
If it's VAMK or TAMK, then it's normal. They ask for this every year. It's not immigration requirement, it's just school requirement so they can cover their asses.
They expect you to get the x-ray scan *in* Finland.
What you do is simply contact the student health care center in your city (http://www.yths.fi/en/contact_details/units) and ask them where they have the x-ray scans for that these days. Normally, they ask you your name and they register a referral for you. You go to the place they tell you, and you get the x-ray for free.
You don't even need to bother with your AMK. They'll tell you the same.
They expect you to get the x-ray scan *in* Finland.
What you do is simply contact the student health care center in your city (http://www.yths.fi/en/contact_details/units) and ask them where they have the x-ray scans for that these days. Normally, they ask you your name and they register a referral for you. You go to the place they tell you, and you get the x-ray for free.
You don't even need to bother with your AMK. They'll tell you the same.
Every case is unique. You can't measure the result of your application based on arbitrary anecdotes online.
Re: School requires chest x-ray - But where?
@Beep_Boop Thank you, that's really helpful! : D That appears to be a much better idea than trying to convince the health center to do the x-ray for me, as I'm pretty sure the YTHS at least knows that the AMK asks foreign students to get this kind of check up done.