Are any posters NORWEGIAN ??

Uff da!

Gramps used to call me 'Y'-ason. Would always have me run down to the store to get the Milwaukee 'Y'ournal.

Let's hear it for the Norse!

 

That made me chuckle.

 

I'll move this to the international forum. You might get a better response there. We have at least one person from oslo, and another who's in denmark (not norway but close enough, eh?) .

 

Hi there everyone!
Yeah, I'm from Norway. I am a 5th year med student at the University of Oslo. You'll be very welcome for a visit. Most people here speak Englsh well, I think you could easily do a rotation here with only a little translation help. It's a very beautiful but expensive country!
Dr j - that's funny that you mention "uffda". It means sort the same as "ouch!" i guess. I've also met other Americans who think it's a funny word.

 

Hey Caerulae.

I'm from Denmark. Lille My will have more specific advice for you but I'll tell you that you'll have an awesome time in Oslo. Beautiful city, beautiful people.

You ask about regions where most people speak English. I think you'll find that virtually everyone who's not very old speaks excellent English. But patients in a hospital are bound to speak their own language at least if they are stressed out about being there (and they probably are). But I'm very sure EVERYONE will help you; patients, staff, other med students.

My in-laws from America are here to visit this week. They are from a small town in the mid-west and after the initial culture-shock they are really starting to love it. You should see them riding their bikes through the down-town trafic with bike-lights on at night.....

 

I can claim about 1/8 Norwegian. The rest is european mutt. My great-grandmother was from the country and lived to be 100. She was a wonderful inspiration in many ways. She didn't tell many storied from her life there. All I know is that she came over in her teens, eventually married, aised family, etc.

I've wanted to visit, just to see what it was like.

 

I am proud to be of Norwegian ancestry. I've never visited, but I have a real hankering!

I know our poster from Norway will recognize a distant relative of mine. I am related to Roald Amundson on my mother's side. I'm so eager to get to Norway to see the beautiful sights and speak with the people. Secretly, I hope to move there and practice medicine.

Unfortunately, I don't think that Norway is one of those countries which accept DO's as complete physicians. Maybe by the time I'm finished things will change.

 

Caerulea - I think probably the other member from Oslo is also me. You see - I'm a bit of a technical "nitwit" so I registered once before a while ago under a different username but forgot all about it and couldn't remember the password it so I had to find a new one.
As to your question. I happen to know of one American student who doesn't speak norwegian who is currently doing a rotation here. I don't know him personally though so I don't know how he arranged it but the point is that it is possible! I would contact for instance my university at www.uio.no or one of the hospitals directly. The bigger ones are called Ullevaal sykehus, rikshospitalet, aker sykehus, diakonhjemmet sykehus and lovisenberg sykehus.
When it comes to working here as a physician I don't know a whole lot but I do know that they require you to be able to speak the language. They do accept medical degrees from western europe and the US/canada so you don't have to go through the whole certification process again except a short course. Again, my University is the place to find out.
Bell Kicker- It's nice to see a fellow scandinavian here! Copenhagen is also a an awesome city and the Danes are the best!!
Toejam - I really don't know about DOs possibilities here. I had never heard of this degree until i stumbled upon this website. But since both DOs and Mds are considered physicians in the state there shouldn't be a reason not to aknowledge Dos as such here too- IMO. Roald Amundsen rocks!!
Happy to see so may ppl excited about Norway

 

Hey Toejam,
You are correct about DO's not being fully recognized. The most recent info I have seen said that they are recognized for manipulation only. Who know's, this might change.
Lille My,
My girlfriend is Norwegian/American. Her parents came over to the states in the 1970's so that her father could do a residency (cardiac surgery). He went to the University of Oslo. Her mother is from Fredrikstad.
I spent about 6 weeks in Norway last summer and absolutely loved it. We spent a great deal of time at a cottage in Kragero, which I thought was absolutely beautiful.
My girlfriend recently left the states to move to Bergen for a year, so I should be coming over there very soon.
I just wanted to write a little bit to say that I think Norway is amazing. I definitely would not mind living/working there at some point in my life.

 

Bellkicker or Lille My,
As I posted above, I loved Norway, and I felt the same way about Denmark. What are the barriers to practicing in the Scandinavian countries if you obtain your medical degree somewhere else? I am hoping to attend medical school in Ireland, but I am very interested in possibly practicing in Scandinavia one day.
Bellkicker, I replied to you a while ago about the fact that my girlfriend's father went back to Oslo without doing another residency, but he is a Norwegian citizen. I would like to get more info on Non-Norwegian/Danish citizens practicing over there.

Takk,
JMD

 

JMD - I'm glad to hear you guys had a good time here!
Here's the web adress to get the most neccesary info about taking all of med school/doing a rotation or guest semester/ practicing as a physician

www.med.uio.no/english/

I have to mention that tuition is absolutely FREE (except fot ca 50 dollars towards student welfare and that our 9th semester is in english (gyn/ob and pediatrics) so that we can have more exchange students!

 

Hi JMD.

Of course I remember you and the story of your girlfriend's father. I can't tell you anything new about intercontinental licensure. I think you knew more than me back then and you probably still do. Right now I'm buried deep in USMLE studying so I don't think about it so much.

My wife is American and we made the "deal" ages ago to move to the US when I was done with school. But I think we would both like to come back here (or to Norway or Sweden for that matter) at least for a while. I wish there was some kind of international test one could take after completion of residency. I don't think one can expect full licensure on other continents but just some clear rules would be really nice.

Lille My. What!?! Your whole 9th semester is in English? We tried to make one whole class English speaking (when I say class you know what I mean, right?) but not enough people signed up for it. Then again, it would be really painful to hear our teachers lecture in English. I'm going into 5th year down here, too, by the way.

Later.

 

I know what you mean, but then again, my friends who were in 9 th semester this spring ( the first time they held it in English) said that the lectures were actually pretty good beacause the teachers, by having to go through what they usually said and translate it, were making the lectures more structured and to the point.
Actually what will happen is that all lectures and practical courses without patient contact will be held in english for all students and then they will have two of the 12 Pbl groups in english for our exchange students and volunteer norwegian students. The clinical teaching will also be in English for these two groups with the Norwegian students + clinical teacher helping out with translation.

 

bellkicker,
Your little comment about an "international test one could take after residency" got me thinking. When we are all prestigious, internationally renowned doctor's, we should make a point of using some of our spare time (what little we will have) to break down international medical barriers. Is helping people something that should be determined by territorial borders?

I know that it is not that simple, but I sure wouldn't mind getting to see the world while also practicing medicine.
Just something to think about.

 

JMD, big words my friend.

I have always felt that doctors generally take more crap from the "system" than other professions because all the way through school we have this feeling of "holy crap, I'm gonna be a doctor". Which, as it turns out, isn't at all like watching Carter on ER (gaad, that guy is great. He can spot a metacarpal avulsion from across the room!).

It's like in the old English schools where the young kids would slave away through their first years (only hoping and praying not too many of their upperclassmen were gay); only waiting for that day when they would be old enough to torture someone younger than themselves.

Yeah, international licensure would be awesome. But could you see the Americans, French, British, what have you, sitting there agreeing on something so complicated? I'm afraid it's not gonna happen for a while yet.

 

www.ifmsa.org - in the spirit of co-operation Do you not have the equivalent of MedSIN in the US then?

 

Fiona, are you a member of MedSIN? If so, is it worth it and what have you been involved in?

 

I study medicine in Bergen, Norway - please feel free to email me if you think that I can help you with anything..