I am Swedish, but will be a UK medical graduate. I started my degree in 2019, and from my understanding of the information on the helsedirektoratet, this means I would be applying as an EU graduate (due to the transitional agreement, https://www.helsedirektoratet.no/english/authorisation-and-license-for-health-personnel/all-professions–united-kingdom). Based on the information I have read, it also seems my Swedish qualifications are sufficient to allow me to work as a doctor in Norway. So my question is, how hard is it getting a job in Norway as a doctor after completing foundation training (I believe is the equivalent of turnuslege) in the UK, and do they discriminate against non-norwegian medical graduates? Is it difficult to get into specialisation training?

Thanks

by Objective_Author3110

5 comments

  1. Hey OP. Just wanted to say that if you don’t get enough replies here. Post in Swedish in /r/norge. Way more doctors there than here 🙂

    Btw, are you sure it’s LIS-1 and not turnuslege you mean? 🙂

  2. This is just based on people I know.

    I do not work in a medical field, but the majority of the friends I have who work there (nurses, doctors, etc) are not originally from Norway. I have heard multiple times that Norway has a big need for more nurses and doctors, so that probably helps your chances.

    You will need to know the norwegian language. An anecdote I was told by a nurse here was they needed a minimum of a B2 qualification in norwegian, but that the hospital was so desperate for people, they let him start with B1 and study for B2. Swedish is very similar, how do you rate your norwegian skills?

  3. It’s quite easy to get a job, but there’s high competition in the bigger cities. If you’re willing to go to a hospital in the far north, you’re almost guaranteed work.

  4. Get in touch with Helsedirektoratet directly, by mail. They are required by law to give you an answer and guidance.

  5. Hi! I am a foundation doctor (earlier called turnuslege, today called lege i spesialisering del 1, often shortened to LIS1) in Norway. Firstly, a large amount of our doctors are not medical graduates from Norway, so I would not worry against discrimination on this front. It would’ve been an advantage to have gone through a Norwegian university in the sense that it’s easier to get connected to the hospital and gather work experience in the health care system through part time jobs. My experience is that after your first job at a hospital, no one really looks where you got your education. From then on any future employer will depend on references.

    I’m not familiar with the process of gaining authorization and such. If I were you, I would contact Helsedirektoratet directly, just to be sure I understood the requirements correctly.

    Every doctor who has not finished a specialization need to go through completing foundation training in Norway. You’re not allowed to proceed with a specialization otherwise. It doesn’t matter that you’ve done it in the UK — you have to go through LIS1, which consist of one year at the hospital (rotations through medicine and surgery, eventually psychiatry) and half a year in a kommune to work alongside general practitioners (fastleger). Unfortunately, this is also infamously known as the “bottleneck” for doctors. Only half of the people who apply receive a position. Half of our medical graduates are therefore forced to take temporary positions to pad their CVs with relevant experience before giving it another go at the next round. The competition can be stiff, and quite random. Even if you have an impressive CV, you might not get a job just cause there are so many people with impressive and quite alike CVs. Fortunately for you, I think the employers will consider the fact that you’ve completed foundation training in the UK to be an advantage. You’re clearly already more experienced than the average new medical graduate.

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