Doctors and other health workers are in an advantageous position when it comes to immigration, as there are many opportunities for them to work abroad.
Given the crucial nature of the health sector, physicians and professionals in other health-related fields are very much in demand in Europe and North America.
Indeed, there is a shortage of primary care physicians.
So if you are a doctor and you would like to immigrate to these continents, you’re in luck!
You stand a very good chance to work abroad.
Those with education or significant work experience in the health sector are classified as skilled workers. Being a skilled worker allows foreign nationals to immigrate to different countries using several paths which we will go over below.
Doctors can travel to the US and work there with the H-1B visa. Currently, over a quarter of physicians practising in the US are foreign-born.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa. This means that there is a time limit as to how long you can remain in the US. You will be entitled to live and work in the country for up to three years, and an extension of three additional years is possible.
The H-1B visa is strictly for skilled employees, who either possess at least a bachelor’s degree or have sufficient work experience to make them experts in a field. An applicant for the H-1B visa must be sponsored by a qualifying company. In other words, you must have an offer of work before applying.
The job offer can be from a hospital, university, clinic, a doctor’s office, or an assisted living community, or any other employer that has a legitimate need for an employee working in a physician’s capacity.
The employer will typically assist you in your application.
You will need the following:
Holders of the H-1B visa can become eligible for a Green Card when they reach their maximum of six years in the US.
You can move to Canada to work as a doctor or health worker under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), which allows foreign workers to work in Canada.
The Federal Skilled Worker Program is one out of three pathways within Express Entry.
Express Entry is an online application system that manages candidates who are eligible for permanent residency and are looking for employment. The Federal Skilled Worker Program category is specifically for those without prior Canadian work experience.
To qualify for the FSWP, you will have to be chosen from within a pool of applicants ranked according to CRS score.
However, qualifying for this is not easy – especially if you’re not coming from Europe or North America.
It is much easier for people from Third-World countries to work as medical doctors in Canada if they graduate from university there and then do a residency programme.
For foreign graduates who have begun practising in their home country, it is possible to get jobs as caregivers, etcetera, but if you really want to practise as a physician, you’ll have to take a bit of a longer, more complex way.
The following steps listed by Relocationgarland will guide you towards setting up shop in Canada as a practising physician.
Image credit: cbc.ca
Before you think of processing relocation to Canada as a medical doctor, you should first check if your medical certificate is recognized in Canada.
First check the World Directory of Medical Schools website.
Enter the country you received your qualification from and the name of your university.
If your university is an accepted medical institution, it will show up in the results.
You will also need to have a Canadian Sponsor Note from your university. Locate your school in the World Directory, and click on the Sponsor Notes tab. A note for “Canada” indicates that your medical school is recognized in Canada.
You will have to get approval from the Medical Council of Canada or MCC. To do that you will need a qualification called the Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada.
To get this Licentiate you will need to
#1. Pass the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination (MCCQE), which is broken into two parts – Part 1 and 2. You can take Part 1 in your country, but you will need to be in Canada for Part 2.
#2. Complete at least 12 months of postgraduate training.
After passing the MCCQE exams, your next step will be to get approval from the Medical Regulatory Authorities in the province or territory you wish to apply for.
You will actually need to do this before taking your MCCQE Part 1. You will need to pay a one-time, non-refundable fee. Once you sign up, you will be able to log into your account to request various services, including storing and sharing your documents, applying for exams and more.
Physiciansapply.ca helps shows you how to become a practising physician in Canada. Watch the video below for more information.
You will need to take a language proficiency test. There are two authorized test providers in English, the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP). If you want to take your language test in French, you must take the Test d’évaluation de français (TEF).
IELTS, CELPIP and TEF all assign a score for each of four language abilities: listening, reading, writing and speaking.
Find out more here.
The whole basis of applying for a medical licence in Canada is that you have sufficient work experience.
You will need to present details such as
In the United Kingdom, you can get a job with the NHS, which would enable you to secure a Health and Care Worker Visa.
The NHS is the largest single employer in the UK, employing over a million people, five per cent of the UK’s working population. Further, the workforce is extremely diverse and multicultural and makes space for people from different parts of the globe. The NHS often looks beyond the UK and Europe to attract the best talent. Applications are particularly welcome from professionally-qualified healthcare staff from outside the UK.
Here’s where you can look for a job with the NHS.
To qualify for a Health and Care Worker visa, you must:
These are just the basic options available for doctors and health workers who wish to work abroad as immigrant or foreign workers.
There are numerous other options available that you could try.
Let us know if you have any other ideas you think are equally great.
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Comment 01
binance,
09 September, 2024I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.