Study medicine in Finland

findmyself · Post by **findmyself** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 2:24 am

Hello everyone!

I'm a girl from Germany dreaming about studying in Finland. I did a lot of research on Finland jo harjottelen suomea joka päivä. When I'll be done with school I want to study abroad, more specific: I want to study medicine. And this point I'll have my Latinum and will have (based on my recent grades) an Abitur that is around 1,0-1,3. My spoken English is on a B2/C1 level (have been in the US for a couple weeks and took successfully part in some chemistry and biology lessons) and yes...
How difficult will it be? I know that EU members have it a lot easier to study in any other European country, but I also know that living there is quiet expensive. I guess I will need to get a part time job, won't I? Which options are there for students?

Thanks for help, I'm looking forward to it

P.S.: I forgot to mention that my parents would support me with 600-700€ in a month.

**Sponsor:**

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 3:04 pm

To get in the medical you usually need to go on a prep course to have a chance to pass the entrance tests. Same as with law, its nearly impossible to get in without knowing the right way to answer. And you need to have read your Galenos by heart.

sotka_ · Post by **sotka_** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 4:10 pm

Pursuivant wrote:And you need to have read your Galenos by heart.

Sadly, Galenos is no more. Nowadays you must know all your lukio physics, chemistry and biology courses by heart (some information found here and here)

Exams and answers from previous years are available, 2014 questions and answers.

You have 5 hours. “Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.”

findmyself · Post by **findmyself** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 4:41 pm

Hm ok, seems really tough. I won't take physics lessons anymore (has something to do with the German school system), that's a major problem... And I guess the Finns prefer Finns to study medicine in Finland, I've already heard of that there are too less opportunities to study medicine in Finland.

And what about studying medicine in Germany (takes 6 years) and then go to Finland and do maybe (! if it's possible) my apprenticeship/studying to become a neurologist there? Of course I'd have to stay in big cities, because not many people need a doctor for brain and nerves and if they are any people, they live in the city.

It's pretty tricky, so I made up my mind for a plan B, alternatives if I can't get a doctor there. Other options would be a teacher (of course for German and maybe mathematics), psychologist, scientist in biology/chemistry, mathematician.
These were all possible with the subjects I have in my Abitur (biology, mathematics, English, philosophy and chemistry).

Do some of the Germans here (if there are any) know how much an Abitur is "worth" in Finland?

Beep_Boop · Post by **Beep_Boop** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 5:55 pm

I was under the impression that medicin is only taught in Finnish in Finland. Not only thar, your Finnish needs to be at least B2 to even hope of surviving.
Has that changed recently?

findmyself · Post by **findmyself** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 7:10 pm

I would need a native speaker to learn it better, but I don't find one.
Anyways, I have time left to learn and I'm good at languages, plus I'm still young and have enough time.
Maybe I should do an Au Pair job for one year after I've finished school so I can practice the language...

rinso · Post by **rinso** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 7:27 am

I think you have to choose between Finland and medicine. You can't have both.
Medicine is one of the most difficult studies to get in. In practice you need near fluency to get in.

Anyways, I have time left to learn and I'm good at languages, plus I'm still young and have enough time.
Maybe I should do an Au Pair job for one year after I've finished school so I can practice the language...

Good plan, but not good enough for your purpose. You'll be looking more like 5 years to get to the professional level you need.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 8:03 am

Old exam questions with answer from previous years. In Finnish and Swedish.
http://www.utu.fi/fi/yksikot/med/opiske ... /home.aspx

It sounds to me too like mission impossible if you don't live here

findmyself · Post by **findmyself** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 1:02 pm

OK, and what ajoit studying in Germany for these six years and then go to Finland? Is this totally difficult as well?
And about the other jobs I told you?

Anyway; thanks for the help until now

sotka_ · Post by **sotka_** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 1:15 pm

findmyself wrote:OK, and what ajoit studying in Germany for these six years and then go to Finland? Is this totally difficult as well?

Sure you can, some rules apply: Valvira licensing / professional practice rights

That would mean a following plan:

1) Go to medical school in Germany (or in any EU country, getting your license recognized will be easier if you studied in an EU country).
2) Study medicine (and Finnish language).
3) Graduate from medical school.
4) Get your license recognized by Valvira as described in the link above and get a job in Finland.

Optionally become specialist before step 4.

You can visit Finland as an exchange student while completing step 2.

findmyself · Post by **findmyself** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 1:39 pm

Ok, seems like a good option. I mean, 9 years of practice in Finish are sufficient to live there, aren't they?
It is a lot of paper work, but hey, I'm German. I'm used to this

So is it difficult to come in there? When you have the degree, the language skills and so on? Because I know that for example teachers have to be under the top 10% to be employed.
I can't believe that you can come in as a doctor that easy (as a foreigner), but it's nearly impossible to study medicine there (as a foreigner)?

findmyself · Post by **findmyself** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 1:43 pm

And I think that is a better way, because the studying of medicin is really complicated and takes a lot of time and learning, so it is a advantage to do this in my mother tongue.
Thank you for the exchange idea!

betelgeuse · Post by **betelgeuse** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 6:20 pm

findmyself wrote: I can't believe that you can come in as a doctor that easy (as a foreigner), but it's nearly impossible to study medicine there (as a foreigner)?

Paper work wise it's easy to come here to study medicine as an EU citizen. Let me put it this way: would you prefer the doctors in Germany handling German patients to be fluent in German?

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 6:48 pm

findmyself wrote: I can't believe that you can come in as a doctor that easy (as a foreigner), but it's nearly impossible to study medicine there (as a foreigner)?

EU rules require that a German degree is recognized. Actual jobs on treating patients where you don't need to speak their language are of short supply. If one has both the degree and language fluency then finding a job should be pretty much guaranteed ( ok, should one add a caveat for economy turning really, really bad?)

sotka_ · Post by **sotka_** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 7:03 pm

betelgeuse wrote:Paper work wise it's easy to come here to study medicine as an EU citizen. Let me put it this way: would you prefer the doctors in Germany handling German patients to be fluent in German?

Sure, sure. But let me put it this way: in Oulu alone, there are several doctors of foreign origin, who are quite fluent in Finnish.

If someone is to come here to study medicine, passes the entrance exam (20-30 pages long, in Finnish!) and beats enough of the natives (I don't know, 700-1500 applicants, depending on the university), and is able to go through the six years of training (again, in Finnish), I believe that person will be quite fluent in the end. So I would like to think the language won't be a problem after that.

That said, the competition is quite fierce, and trying to master the exam in foreign language will mean giving the edge to others applicants. So studying in ones home country might be a better choice in this case.

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