Russian MD --> Neurosurgery internship in EU possible ?

[LightofHeaven]

Greetings everyone.

I'm a Malaysian student, 5th year undergrad here in the Russian State Medical University, Moscow.

I would like to specialize in the field of Neurosurgery and I have this interest to stick around and probably settle down somewhere in the EU. (Barcelona preferably)

I would like to ask anyone out there who has a Russian MD and has successfully gained admission to an internship or residency Neurosurgery program somewhere here in the EU.

I don't mind doing any local board exam(in the EU) if required. I guess its a global requirement to measure the standards and quality of the medical graduate from their respective university.

Regardless of which, I still have the option of doing it here in Moscow with my honours in hand.
The cons of doing it here : cost of living in Moscow is too high . There is no salary for interns. Juggling 2 jobs for cash is not something I'm looking forward to.

Any form of feedback is appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

LghtfHvn.ru

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[shreypete]

Hey there,
It's unfortunately not so easy as it's a non-EU degree but it sure is possible. Germany for eg. does employ quite a few docs from Russia now and then, so you might want to try there.

Spain, France and Portugal might all be open too as long as you pass the local board exams. Mind you that in order to work or undergo training in one of these countries, you have to be fluent in the respective language. For countries like Spain, France and Portugal, there are no official language exams to be taken but it is implicit as you have to take the local board exam in those countries' respective languages and also undergo interviews in the very same languages.

In case of countries like Germany, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands etc., it's a lot harder to get in (usually rare) if you don't have an EU degree and they also do require you to take official language exams in addition to board exams and interviews. However, these countries rely on other EU countries like Poland, CR, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania to fill up the doctor shortages.

But again, do try your best and see how it goes.. If it doesn't work out in the end, you could perhaps look into countries like the US or Australia (which are actually tougher but they do have a lot of doctor shortages.)

It would actually be best to do your training/residency back in Russia. You might have more access to the EU healthcare system that way. Even Australia hires post-grads (they rarely take in medical graduates and offer them internship spots as they graduate more students every year than the number of internship spots available; it's the same in Ireland.)

Nevertheless, as you mentioned anywhere in the EU, perhaps you could also look into the Central (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic) and Eastern European countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria etc.) and if you do get in and then get your training here, you should be able to move to another EU country in the future (once you do get your permanent residence permit and citizenship or even once you have your training qualifications in an EU country.)

 

[LightofHeaven]

Sweet reply there.(noticed your contributions all over this board, must be very knowledgeable in this regard)

I've got mates doing the AMC to settle down in Aussie. There is something about Europe that I've fallen in love with, especially Barcelona.

It's true that completing my masters here is much more feasible compared to transferring out but I gotta take into account the living costs here. Moscow has a world-class neuro facility, Burdenko's Neuro Hospital off M.Mayakovskaya and it has the state of the art equipments. All of em are English speaking, that takes care off most problems really.

Once again, thanks for your reply shreypete.

 

[shreypete]

You're welcome. Perhaps you could look into getting a private loan/sponsored loan or some sort of a scholarship? I'm not sure how it works there.

Good luck to ya!

 

[LightofHeaven]

Apart from the above,

1. Which Hospital or Institution is best recommended for a residency in Neurosurgery and specialization ?

2. How would you go about it ?

3. Any options for English based NS post-grads other than the UK ?

Once again, sorry for troubling you shreypete.

 

[shreypete]

No, it's allright.

1) Well actually most Western European countries have very superior residency/training programs. The best ones are in Germany (which in fact has a doctor shortage), Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, UK and Ireland.

2) Assuming you are fluent in the language of that country, you then have to apply for recognition of your degree. Each country has different rules so you have to go about it according to the rules. If you want to know rules for a specific country, perhaps I can help you with that.

3) Unfortunately, with the exception of UK and Ireland, there are no English training posts (despite the fact that residents in countries like Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway speak impeccable English.)

The best thing would be to perhaps look into countries which have a doctor shortage...currently, they're Sweden and Germany (and perhaps even Norway.) But this also means that you have to spend a year or 2 learning the language first and then applying for a post. You will also need to take licensure exams as you will have a non-EU degree.