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Hello, everyone!
I'm an EU citizen who went to medical school, IM residency, and fellowship outside Europe. Due to various circumstances, I'm considering going to Europe and possibly living there for good... specifically Belgium (where my family's from). I recently obtained equivalency of my medical degree through NARIC. I do not mind... and actually prefer... going through residency (and eventually fellowship) training (specifically internal medicine) there again... as I figured that it's probably best to undergo training on entry to be able to smoothly segue into the Belgian health care system.
Unlike application for residency training in the US, I understand that the applicants have to contact the individual training hospitals themselves. Also, my understanding is that it are the university hospitals ("UZ"), and not general hospitals ("AZ"), that offer training. So far, from my search, I came across the following university hospitals:
- Universitair Ziekenhuis Gent
- Erasmus Hospital, Brussels
- UZ Antwerpen
- UZ Leuven (Gasthuisberg campus)
- UZ Brussel (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
- UZ Saint-Luc Brussel
*I'm not sure if the list I have is exhaustive. If there are other training hospitals that I haven't listed, please let me know.
*In the US, foreign medical graduates often apply for "observership" in different training hospitals to sort of get their foot through the door... meaning, based on their performance during observership, program directors would be more familiar with them, and consider them during application... so overall their chances of getting accepted in the training program are higher. I'm wondering if such is also possible in training hospitals in Belgium?
*Also, I'm hoping that Belgium-trained physicians who read my post can give their experiences with application, how strenuous/competitive it is, what basic/minimum requirements are being looked for in applicants, etc. Likewise, if anyone has useful tips, they are all greatly appreciated as well.
Thanks very much for your time and help!!!
I'm an EU citizen who went to medical school, IM residency, and fellowship outside Europe. Due to various circumstances, I'm considering going to Europe and possibly living there for good... specifically Belgium (where my family's from). I recently obtained equivalency of my medical degree through NARIC. I do not mind... and actually prefer... going through residency (and eventually fellowship) training (specifically internal medicine) there again... as I figured that it's probably best to undergo training on entry to be able to smoothly segue into the Belgian health care system.
Unlike application for residency training in the US, I understand that the applicants have to contact the individual training hospitals themselves. Also, my understanding is that it are the university hospitals ("UZ"), and not general hospitals ("AZ"), that offer training. So far, from my search, I came across the following university hospitals:
- Universitair Ziekenhuis Gent
- Erasmus Hospital, Brussels
- UZ Antwerpen
- UZ Leuven (Gasthuisberg campus)
- UZ Brussel (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
- UZ Saint-Luc Brussel
*I'm not sure if the list I have is exhaustive. If there are other training hospitals that I haven't listed, please let me know.
*In the US, foreign medical graduates often apply for "observership" in different training hospitals to sort of get their foot through the door... meaning, based on their performance during observership, program directors would be more familiar with them, and consider them during application... so overall their chances of getting accepted in the training program are higher. I'm wondering if such is also possible in training hospitals in Belgium?
*Also, I'm hoping that Belgium-trained physicians who read my post can give their experiences with application, how strenuous/competitive it is, what basic/minimum requirements are being looked for in applicants, etc. Likewise, if anyone has useful tips, they are all greatly appreciated as well.
Thanks very much for your time and help!!!
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