What's the deal for EU-med students going to the UK?

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prettypea

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To clarify the subject line, I'm a med student in Sweden and would like to know what my chances would be to a) transfer to a med school in the UK and b) to do my internship in the UK after I get my degree? (I think the word is internship - the time you spend in the clinic after you're done with the clinical leg of the education.)

thanks, P.

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Legally speaking, it's perfectly possible. You're able to take your course points with you to another EU-university, and after you register with the GMC or Swedish Board of Health (depending on where you get your degree) you are automatically eligible to be registered in the other country (or any EU-country+Norway, Iceland, Switzerland). That, in turn, makes you eligible to work in a UK hospital (so in theory you don't need to get a UK degree to work in the UK).
However, despite EU regulations, there's still substantial differences between European medical degrees. So getting an outright transfer might be a bit problematic. Just because you CAN transfer, doesn't mean a UK univ. has to take you. Probably a lot easier to take a year at a UK univ., and make ECTS-points from courses taken there count towards your Swedish degree. Also, at least in the past, the "MD" degree existed in the UK, but was an advanced degree to the normal "MBBS" medical degree, requiring a dissertation, among other thing. But your Swedish degree would be an "MD" degree in the UK. It's largely cosmetic, and don't know if rules still apply, but worth taking into consideration.
Also note that the NHS is actively recuiting international specialists (consultants) but not so residents, so it's probably easier to get into a UK hospital with a Swedish specialist certification (which is recognized in the UK). Best of luck...
 
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