Non-EU Doctor to Work in Finland

eyes1aq · Post by **eyes1aq** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 2:29 am

Hi,

I am Pakistani doctor working in Oman. I want to come to Finland to work as a doctor. I have sent the documents for approval to the Finnish regulatory authority, Valvira. I have some questions & I request anyone who have the knowledge to help me:

1) Can I come to Finland to take a Finnish language course? R there institutions that can assist in providing visa for language courses?

2) How to find "medical intern" level job? I was thinking to find intership job in various hospital while doing the Finnish language course?

If I am unable to get a visa for learning finnish language, then are there any other resources to find job after approval of qualification?

What are the average probability of finding job in medical field in Finland?

Regards

**Sponsor:**

rinso · Post by **rinso** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:08 am

Visa is for visiting. max 3 months. You can try to find a private language course, but after 3 months you have to leave.
And working with a visa is out of the question.
(And learning Finnish in 3 months is not realistic)
For your plans you need a residence permit. And for a RP you need a reason; work, study or family ties.
Looking for work and a language course are not accepted reasons for a RP.

At the moment health care in many places is reorganized. Smaller locations have to merge with others as a cost reduction measure. So I guess your chances of finding work without good Finnish in this sector are not great.

Oombongo · Post by **Oombongo** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:19 am

on top of that, you'll be paying a lot of taxes and I guess that in Oman you don't have to pay any tax.

Flossy1978 · Post by **Flossy1978** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:42 am

And doctors don't make such a great salary here. They make about 4000 - 4500€ a month (without ER shifts) if you work for the government in a basic doctor type of job (no specialty).

rinso · Post by **rinso** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:24 am

They make about 4000 - 4500€ a month

And from what is left after the taxman, you have to pay about half for decent housing.

Flossy1978 · Post by **Flossy1978** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:29 am

Depends where you live. Hyvinkää hospital doctors make the same as Helsinki doctors, but housing is cheaper in Hyvinkää. I know a doctor. While he pays high taxes (I think about 30% or something), he easily affords his mortgage on his income and a high standard of living because he lives in a cheaper place than Helsinki.

Logic · Post by **Logic** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:54 am

Where have you graduated from? If its Pakistan then dont even bother, you're just wasting time and money. I know a couple of doctors who lived here for years and speak Finnish fluently but their credentials are from non EU countries and have been struggling for years to get the license. So far they have been only allowed to work as assistants. By the way you wont have the same standard of living here as you have in oman so eventually if you do happen to come here then this is what Ipredict youll do youre going to stay until you get citizenship and then head back there or move to the UK.

eyes1aq · Post by **eyes1aq** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 11:12 pm

I am very thankful to all of you for replying to my query.

I want to settle in some European country and Finland is a great option. It is a peaceful and quite country and I can settle even in the sparsely populated northern areas.

Yes, in Oman there are no taxes but life in the developed countries if Europe cannot be compared with that in gulf. Europe is far better in development and living quality. Nordic countries are among the top ranked countries in indices like human rights, education, scientific research and human development.

I think if I am able to come to Finland then it will be much easier not only to learn language but also to find job. I can visit hospitals, meet doctors and take guidance and help from other expatriates especially people of my country living there.

I think if attached to an institution, I will be able to have some grip on the language in a year. I am confident that I will be able to clear their licensure examinations, after clearing their language tests.

I have tried to search institutions which offer language courses and enquired them if they can assist in getting visa. One of them in Haapaveden Opisto; in its application form there is an option to select if the applicant has visa or RP or none of them. I have emailed them but still got no answer.

I think that 1 year is okay for me to learn the language if I get attached to some institution. I can support myself there.

I request you to guide me about possible ways to enter the system.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 6:50 am

You can't get a RP for "study" only for the language, as its not a degree, the student RP's are only given for degrees.
However, the universities do have "non-EU to EU" programmes, so I would say that would be the path to take, you need to look at the medical faculties.

rinso · Post by **rinso** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 7:36 am

I think that 1 year is okay for me to learn the language

Optimist.

Oombongo · Post by **Oombongo** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:42 am

eyes1aq wrote:I am very thankful to all of you for replying to my query.

Nordic countries are among the top ranked countries in indices like human rights, education, scientific research and human development.

I can't say about other countries but it is an organized propaganda from media about Finland, and believing in it with closed eyes is quite...naive. Perhaps it is a way to pressurize Finland like "you are doing so well so bailout the banks of south euro countries and their retarded useless bum government."
There are budget cuts going on in north, south, east, west, top, down, left, right, bottom, up in Finland. Firms are kicking out employees. Employment rate is not going to a good direction. Government debt is increasing. So I don't see how things are going to positive direction as these "reports" suggest. I'd like to see the source(s) of those reports.

I think if I am able to come to Finland then it will be much easier not only to learn language but also to find job. I can visit hospitals, meet doctors and take guidance and help from other expatriates especially people of my country living there.

I think if attached to an institution, I will be able to have some grip on the language in a year. I am confident that I will be able to clear their licensure examinations, after clearing their language tests.

Learning language in one year while you are looking for opportunity is a fool's dream. You'll need close to native language skills when you are going to work with natives. A slight misunderstanding and wrong/diagnosis, and you can say goodbye to your license. Besides, natives are usually (not always) are suspicious about foreign doctors, and most likely your patient will have a mind made up that your chances of screw ups are slightly higher because you are not...native. Yes, Russian doctors/medical personnel face the same treatment but since they are caucasians so they get a slightly better treatment.

I think that 1 year is okay for me to learn the language if I get attached to some institution. I can support myself there.

You might want to read about the expenses while you are looking for an opportunity. Again, 1 year and next to native language skills is a wild goose chase

I request you to guide me about possible ways to enter the system.

No need to highlight it. We got it

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:53 am

http://www.valvira.fi/en/licensing/prof ... ice_rights

AldenG · Post by **AldenG** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 1:31 am

Sweden is far more welcoming to professionals and other people from your part of the world. I mean by a factor of several times over. Plus there is a much larger population of fellow countrymen who might prefer your services to those of a Swedish doctor. And the language is far more accessible than Finnish to someone who already speaks English.

For someone very talented in language acquisition, it is quite realistic to have good or (conceivably) near-excellent Swedish skills within a year -- even more so if you already have some German. (Mind you, most people overestimate their talent for learning languages, but the very best can be highly functional in Swedish within that time frame if they have time available to dedicate to the task.) For Finnish, forget it. No matter how good you are (and as an MD you are probably more of a scientist than a linguist), a year is not going get you close to a level of Finnish acceptable in a professional setting. Plus most of the formal instruction available (with possible exceptions) has been studied and demonstrated to be highly ineffective today and very little changed from how it was done 20-30 years ago.

Norway is less cosmopolitan and more suspicious of foreigners than Sweden. I don't know about Denmark. Either one of those would again be a much easier language for you to learn than Finnish. For many years Sweden actively and effectively developed an entire infrastructure for integrating foreigners into Swedish life, including language instruction, civics instruction, cultural education (so that you at least understand Swedish norms and customs, whether you choose to follow them or not), and more. During most of that time, Finland was doing its best to keep foreigners from coming. So just guess which country it's easier to adapt to now.

Logic · Post by **Logic** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 10:52 am

I think the OP will eventually realize that he's just beating his head against the wall.

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