DO student interested in working in Netherlands and Switzerland and possibly gaining MD for practice outside the US

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Doctor_anonymous

Full Member
5+ Year Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2016
Messages
110
Reaction score
62
Hello,

I'm inquiring today if there is any information about a DO using an MD school for an MD degree for practice rights outside the US. After searching online on various European country's websites, it appears that the British DO is ONLY Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine/Technique approved practice rights in some countries. That's unfortunate for us US DO students who complete an ACGME approved residency looking to expand our horizon and work outside of the US in the distant future.

Have any of you heard of such a program or idea? I'm interested in Netherlands, Switzerland, and Australia. Australia just got approved for DOs but the other two are currently not allowing US DOs as far as their websites say that we have or are in the process of gaining practice rights.

Thus, I'm stuck searching for an alternative. One may NOT practice from a US facility in another country and be paid by CMS, from what I can see and thus this limits even the possibility of working remotely for a future practice that I join. If you know of any work arounds or things in the works, please share them here.

Thank you.

Members don't see this ad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
You will have full practice rights in Australia and Netherlands as a DO. I'm not sure about Switzerland as I don't see it mentioned in the list of countries in which DOs can practice. It is also possible to practice in countries in which DOs don't have full practice rights if you go under an NGO like "Doctors without borders" because then the NGO is responsible for credentialing you. AND no, I have never heard of a program that lets DOs switch to MD for practice rights. The list of countries for which DOs have full practice rights has been growing constantly, so don't worry we will get there especially with the merger.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 4 users
Members don't see this ad :)
Do you speak the languages necessary for the Netherlands and Switzerland? Just curious.

Yes it’d definitely be easier if you’re planning to move and practice in another country long term to move to Australia.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
It's very difficult for someone from outside the Eropean Union to work as a medical doctor in the Netherlands. In your case I think it's best to send an e-mail to BIG-register to ask about the options. Home | BIG-register. Or you can call them: 00 31 70 340 66 00.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
It's very difficult for someone from outside the Eropean Union to work as a medical doctor in the Netherlands. In your case I think it's best to send an e-mail to BIG-register to ask about the options. Home | BIG-register. Or you can call them: 00 31 70 340 66 00.

Thank you.

Everything I’ve seen so far says nothing about DOs being recognized in the Netherlands as physicians and not just Dr. of OMM.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Do you speak the languages necessary for the Netherlands and Switzerland? Just curious.

Yes it’d definitely be easier if you’re planning to move and practice in another country long term to move to Australia.

This is a good question. I don’t. Amsterdam and Switzerland are both highly educated and Americanized in their literature, medicine, research papers, and I never met a Dutch person who didn’t speak English so there is less of a concern about not speaking the language.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Switzerland specifically is going to be tough. They're pretty restrictive to both MDs and DOs from foreign medical schools. Check out the Osteopathic International Alliance. They're the organization doing a lot of the work expanding global practice rights for DOs. Osteopathic International Alliance – Advancing osteopathic medicine & osteopathy worldwide

Yeah that’s what I’ve read before. It’s impossible in both Switzerland and Netherlands as far as I can tell through official channels.

They both recognize DOs as “osteopaths” NOT Osteopathic PHYSICIANS. This is due to The UK training osteopaths and not DO physicians. The EU just doesn’t really understand US DOs are different from the UK version of DO.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
You will have full practice rights in Australia and Netherlands as a DO. I'm not sure about Switzerland as I don't see it mentioned in the list of countries in which DOs can practice. It is also possible to practice in countries in which DOs don't have full practice rights if you go under an NGO like "Doctors without borders" because then the NGO is responsible for credentialing you. AND no, I have never heard of a program that lets DOs switch to MD for practice rights. The list of countries for which DOs have full practice rights has been growing constantly, so don't worry we will get there especially with the merger.

Thanks for the response and the link but that site has super old data and the Netherlands does NOT allow DOs physician rights through the regular channels. Switzerland and Netherlands does not recognize DOs as physicians. They recognize DOs only as “osteopaths”.


If you go into that link then find the table of countries. It lists osteopathic PHYSICIANS and where they are allowed to practice and how many are there or graduated. As far as I can tell there is not any “official” channel to get there.

Perhaps there is a waiver of some sort and that’s why I figured I’d put this out there on the net to see if anyone had ever heard of it being done through back door channels.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
This is a good question. I don’t. Amsterdam and Switzerland are both highly educated and Americanized in their literature, medicine, research papers, and I never met a Dutch person who didn’t speak English so there is less of a concern about not speaking the language.
Ok, this is pretty naive.
Sure you could get by in either respective countries without knowing their local languages if you’re just a "regular" immigrant, but you’re talking about becoming a doctor. Just like being proficient in English here is pretty much a requirement for being a doctor here the same is true for being proficient in other languages in other countries. Many (most?) countries make you take tests to prove your proficiency.

I’ve lived overseas where the vast majority of people spoke English and English was even one of their many official languages, but most people still spoke their local language in many settings, including at the doctor’s office.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: 4 users
This is a good question. I don’t. Amsterdam and Switzerland are both highly educated and Americanized in their literature, medicine, research papers, and I never met a Dutch person who didn’t speak English so there is less of a concern about not speaking the language.
Why do you even want to practice in these countries? This comment is pretty naive and makes me think you don’t really have a very strong reason for wanting to do so. I have a close family member who is getting a graduate degree in Switzerland and they were expected to be actively learning German or French, and have some level of proficiency, even though all of their classes are in English. I can’t imagine the Netherlands being much different in terms of language expectations.

And this is just for a few years of being a graduate student. You can’t just speak English if you want to a be a physician in these countries.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 users
Top