# Any UK trained doctors here in Spain? Or Gibraltar??



## searching... (Dec 14, 2020)

Hi all !
I have resigned from my NHS training job due to a combination of covid related issues and generally being fed up with the politics & fearing the worst for the future of the UK! Thankfully and very lucky for me i am from Belfast so i have an Irish passport which is helping a lot.
My Parents have lived here for 18 years, and my Uncle for longer. I am sorry to say that my Spanish is pretty lousy compared to theirs, but Im working on it. I have been aware that I much prefer the way of life here for years but my career has been somewhat of a rollercoaster that Ive struggled to get off.
I'd ideally like to move here but Im struggling to find any British doctors who have made the move to Spain. Has any one met any? In particular ( because i need to work on my Spanish) i would be keen to hear of any in Gibraltar.
If i was a surgeon I would be less intimidate by the language, however Im a psychiatrist..... I'm scared that i will never be able to get my Spanish to the level where i wouldn't miss important subtleties :/. For this reason and this reason only ( as opposed to just pure laziness with respect to language)- I would also be interested to hear from - or be directed to any Psychiatrists, mental health nurses or other allied health professionals who have managed to work for the most in English, whilst having good enough Spanish to be able to refer/ discuss with colleagues in Spanish? Realise this is a massive long shot, but its worth a go.....


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

To practice in Spain you will need to get your qualification recognised in Spain as it is a profession regulated by the Ministry of Health.
If it is a UK issued title, you will sadly not be able to use the EU recognition of regulated professional titles because the UK decided that its citizens didn't want to benefit from that any more, so you will need to get the title homolgated academically.






Regulated Profession Database







ec.europa.eu


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

It's been more the other way round with Spanish doctors going to the UK.
As Overandout has already said, the first step would be to get your qualification recognised. It can be a lengthy process, even a couple of years, but this is the kind of thing that can vary from place to place and depending on what resources are allocated at any particular time.
There are some English speaking psychologists practicing in Madrid and maybe more "expat" areas. Just Google something like "English speaking mental health spain" and get in touch with the contacts that come up.
I think you'd need Spanish not necessarily to speak to colleagues (most of whom will speak fair to excellent English), but if you ever wanted to have a practice aimed at the Spanish patient and for that, unless you are an exceptional language learner, you'll need some years of language learning....


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

You may want to take a look at this site EU - Professional qualifications - Your Europe It's part of the europa.eu site maintained by the EU and it has lots of information about transfer of qualifications and transferability of professions.

Unfortunately, the medical professions have always been the most difficult to transfer, even within the EU - due primarily to the language requirements and the need to understand the local/national health care system. I don't know about Spain specifically, but it's not uncommon for medical professionals to have to undergo a certain level of re-training (in the local language) before they can be qualified to practice in a new country.


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

As others have said if you were intending to work as a certified doctor you would require a very high level of Spanish which realistically might be impossible. It would need to be a minimum of C1 ( even then its unlikely you would be capable of writing and explaining things at the level of precision required). You could work in lesser healthcare levels but again language would be essential along with Oposiciones. I would imagine working in somekind of private hospital where only English is used is only real option.


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## Max Rigger (Aug 2, 2020)

Be a lot easier to move to an English speaking country, Canada/Auz/NZ and you'd earn great money.


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