Level 6: Getting job as Resident Doctor in Kanton Bern/ Swiss Steps to Swiss medical Residency/ Specialisation
Step 1: Learning Swiss language up to B2 (below).
Step 2: Registering oneself into Swiss Med-Register & acquiring GL Number.
Step 3: Getting in contact with MEBEKO regarding Degree recognition.
Step 4: getting a job as Intern +/- Resident doctor. to be followed:
Step 5: Organising visa and accommodation.
Step 6: Getting into Doktorarbeit/Promotion/ Thesis work for <<Dr. title>> .
Step 7: Preparing for Staatsexamen.
Step 8: Working further to complete remaining specialisation years to become a specialist.
Step 9: Preparing for Federal Specialist exam.
Step 10: Continuing further medical education.
Step 4: getting a job as Intern/ Resident doctor.
For recognition of EU or non EU graduation degrees (equivalent indian MBBS/ or european Master of medicine), one needs to contact MEBEKO
For all those having a degree equivalent to specialisation in particular branch, need to contact SIWF of FMH.
Where to contact for recognition:
(Parent Organisation:
FMH –Foederatio Medicorum Helveticorum/ Swiss Medical Association )
SIWF- Schweizer Institut für ärztliche Weiter- und Fortbildung
Elfenstrasse 18, Postfach 300
3000 Bern 15
Tel +41 31 359 11 11
Fax +41 31 359 11 12
siwf@fmh.ch www.fmh.ch
For those pursuing to specialise in Switzerland:
Structure of Medical Residency (WEITERBILDUNG ZUM FACHARZT) in Switzerland:
The duration of specialisation program in Switzerland could vary between 4-7 years depending on branch & different conditions.
Generally, it is of 5-6 years for most of the branches. Details on
www.fmh.ch for each branch (in german/french).
For eg: for Internal medicine is 5 yrs. Out of which is 3 yrs. core in branch & 2 elective yrs. in different medical branches mentioned on
www.fmh.ch.
In Switzerland, a resident doctor works 48hrs per week (on paper), of which 3 hrs are included for specialisation lectures. All the hospitals are
fully funded through Ministry of Health (Bundesamt für Gesundheit/BAG) to promote the internal & external specialisation programs among their employed resident doctors/Assistenzärte . As per rule, the specialisation starts with a job position as AssistenzarztIn & requirements varies depending on individual settings of each branches. For e.g. no. of each intervention/surgeries in acute- chronic settings in General Surgery, posting duration in ambulatory - ward settings in Int. medicine, psychiatric or psychotherapeutic counselling/interviews, categories of hospital etc. It’s individualised for each branch:
https://fmh.ch/siwf/siwf/weiterbildu...hwerpunkte.cfm How to start finding: Things to keep in mind while applying for jobs as Resident doctors: - For non EU doctors without working exp. in Switzerland or EU countries are generally offered a position as Intern/Unterassistent (arzt) , which is meant for Students in 3-4th Year of Medicine. It could be the first step towards entering the medicine field (usually in order of vacancies available: Psychiatry >> Internal Medicine>> Paediatrics etc) . The clinical responsibility is very limited, whereby one initially shadows the consultant/Oberarzt as observer & learns the process until successive limited clinical involvement. It should normally last for 3-6months as probationary phase for judging the clinical abilities of employed intern. Intern for this post are paid 1500/month (private clinics/hospital: 10-1200).
- Next step, which some hospital could offer is “Arzt in Praktikum”, also intern´s post with more direct patient contact/ responsibilities (2-5 patients normally at any given time; but due to scarcity of resident doctors or depending on individual clinical settings or if most of the AA go holidaying together etc., one maybe be alone just with Chef-/Oberarzt & looking after all the patients of his/her ward(s)..!!!!). This position offers better salary (30-3550/month). In my opinion, the position is usually end up like exploitation because one works fully as Resident doctor/ Assistentzarzt, but receives half the salary and the work contract extends every 3-4 month for non-ending period (at excuse/pretext of improving language skills) till such Chefarzt is satisfied. So, in such situation: better keep changing hospitals every 3-4 months till you are resident doctor.
As I mentioned in Step 3: A position as Unterassistent oder Arzt im Praktikum wouldn´t be taken into consideration for recognition of medical degrees ! So, the faster one acquires as position as Assistenzarzt/ Resident doctor, the lesser one losses time & lesser debts, as well as the faster one can start the specialisation program..!
Also, for the working posts mentioned above, one has to apply for the post of Assistenzarzt. During job interviewing, one could get mentioned posts/ job offers.
How to find a job: For non EU beginners in Switzerland:
- Start looking for branches with max. vacancies: (usually: Psychiatry >> Internal Medicine>> Paediatrics etc).
- Search on job-portals (mentioned below):
o
http://www.fmhjob.ch/
o
www.aerzte-jobs.ch
o
www.medicjobs.ch
o
www.jobs.ch
*for more links, google it.
After 1-2yrs of work experience or lateral entry in different department of General hospitals:
- Apart from fulfilling the above mentioned criteria (earlier blogs: Step 1-3) and having experience in Switzerland, one should start applying for job in the interested branch or in which one wants to specialise. As per the requirement of specialisation through FMH: one has to choose the categorised & dedicated hospital for specialisation/ Weiterbildungsstätten in the region/area of Switzerland, where (s)he wants to work, through https://www.siwf-register.ch/ (in order to fulfil the requisites) & apply online through individual hospital webpages.
Document needed for first job (in German/FR/IT or English for medical degrees/docx etc.):
-
CV of 2 or max. 3 pages. (Don´t include irrelevant things in detail like Poster Presentation/ Congress or Seminar attended etc). For a
draft for CV for DE version:
https://lebenslauf.com/
-
Job application letter/ Cover letter/ Bewerbungsschreiben: customised for the mentioned post & department in DE or FR or IT (depending on region). It should be well formatted as well as without grammatical mistakes. Take help for it: german teacher/ native friends
-
Work experience certificates/Arbeitszeugnisse: from Switzerland or EU countries, if any
-
Medical Degree: Translated version if not in DE/FR/IT or at least in English.
-
Medical Transcript: mentioning whole medical course (clinical &non clinical branches) in hours, if some hospital demands for it.
-
Swiss Medical Register: mentioning individualised Global Locator Number (GLN)
-
Language competency Certificate: from Goethe Institut or TOEFL etc. min upto B2.
-
Resuscitation course certificate: from AHA or ERC, if any available.
-
Resident Permit/ Aufenthaltsbewilligung: if already in Switzerland
-
Passport: if needed/asked
Less relevant documents:
-
Letter of Recommendation/Empfehlungsschreiben: if separately available (work experience certificates) but not so relevant in Switzerland.
-
Others/ Misc.: which I have forgotten to mention.
What to do next?
Wait & pray for an interview call. Usually, it could take a while as well effort to get a first interview.
My experience (Oct-Dec 2016): I was then Indian doctor with no hands-on hospital experience in Switzerland or in Europe. Also, my degree was not recognised and still not! Around that time, I completed and passed my B2 German certification exam & was pursuing C1 course from Alemania, Bern.
It was time full of frustration and depression as I had applied almost 72 applications and at the end got 5 interview calls (just 2 good one). More to it, nobody (including myself and all the interviewers) knew then how a non-EU doctor can integrate into Swiss medical specialisation as well as working environment – with an unrecognised degree. After multiple enquiries from MEBEKO, I gather all the necessary Infos about it & at last, I got job in psychiatry department in SO.
Assistenzarzt interview tips:
I have merged the inputs from "doropfiz" & mine mentioned in this link:
https://www.englishforum.ch/employme...iew-tipps.html
For my first Interview (things, which I didn´t do/ added infos are written in bracket):
Appearance:
> Be clean, well-groomed, shaved (or well-maintained beard), normal haircut - (1 or 2 days before would be better), nails trimmed, (ears/ nose hairs trimmed- if you have).
> (No bright Make-up or jewellery).
> Check that your teeth are clean, just before the interview.
> (If you wear glasses, makes sure they are clean, too, lenses and frames).
Clothing: formal light blue full shirt (with a collar), without perfume/ Deodrant/ aftershave + formal dark charcoal grey pant + formal shoes (no tie/ suit/ Blazer). I wore in Oct-Dec 2016 just a casual winter jacket, which I handed over to Secretary Office, before my interview.
>No T-shirts or flashy jackets or sneakers.
> You might consider a suit and tie, but only if you know that you can feel comfortable dressed this way. (My exp.: I wore suit at one interview & I was not selected there. So far, I haven't seen any JR/ junior resident/ Assistenzärzte in suit during last 2.5 year). So, I think suit with tie or sport/casual blazer would be exaggerating, but personal choice..!)
> Any decent clothing will do. Just be neat & tidy, organised and well presentable with smile.
The Content of Interview:
> In most of the cases (90-99%), It would consist of Chefarzt and one of the Leitender Ärzte during your Interview. Normally, you will get the names of the Interviewers from secretary office through email correspondence. Oberarzt are normally not entitled to conduct the job interviews of Assistenzarzt in Uni-hospitals or clinical departments, (rather a direct assessment after probationary period, if they are direct superior/in-charge).
> If you have interest, you can read about their research papers/presented med. Symposium etc. of interviewers - just show that you are smart. Normally they will however not ask you so high and so pin-pointed specific researched things. I had not done it because each one of them had around 250-300 articles (including relevant and irrelevant researches etc)
> Read your CV and job application/Bewerbungsschreiben +/- all other documents which you have submitted. In Switzerland, they ask you mostly, what you have done so far or past job profiles and positions looking at your CV.
Prepare all the possible answers about these things.
In my case, half of the Interview duration were almost always dedicated to Swiss law/rules and regulations about "how to work or to have an Assitenzarzt/ JR place without a recognised medical degree. For it, I always used to keep a handy tablet with open pages of Bundesamt für Gesundheit >> MEBEKO webpages.
>In my case so far (unlike in India), they didn't ask anything about medical / situational-fictional cases. (They can ask you very grossly about somethings- but it is more common in Germany than in Switzerland. For eg: If you are going to Internal Med. interview: how do you treat or role of Antiplatelets/ Antithrombotics in a patient with MI with DIC etc.)
>Don't be lousy at any moment after meeting the interviewers, as they are more interested in know your capabilities, motivation and how can clinic/ hospital benefit from you (in short, you are best for the mentioned position..!). For this, I guess - one doesn't have to put so much of an extra effort or exaggerate.
> be loud and clear, what one speak in standard german. Ask to repeat the question without hesitation, if you don´t understand something. In an interview, you will be expected to speak in German (but not swiss german), as in future - you will have to deal with the patients directly in all clinical branches. They all (= 90-99% in German speaking area) can speak Standard German/ Hochdeutsch.
> One has enough fluency in german (if one has passed Telc/Goethe certification exam) because MEBEKO has a regulation of minimum up to B2 for working EU as well as non-EU doctors & for recognising non-EU degrees.
(If they feel that your German is not good enough or because of the first job, they sometimes also offer you paid Unterassistent position for 3-4 months and subsequently upgrade you to Assistenarzt position. I think one should immediately say yes for first job as Unterassistenz because they could organise half or fully funded "C1 kommunikationkurs für Mediziner" from local Volkhochschule & at the end, one gets work experience certificate).
Misc. general points:
> Most important of all - be punctual: Be at the reception at least 15-20mins, even if you have to wait there. Punctuality is regarded as very important in Switzerland.
> Mobile or anything electronic that can disturb/beeps should be off or not in the room. Pack switched off mobile inside your bag, so it is completely out of sight and mind while you're with your interviewers. Don't take a watch, either, that receives electronic signals or transmits beeps or lights.
> Do wear a watch, so you can track how the conversation is developing. If you are asked to speak about yourself, don't talk for less than 2 or longer than 10 minutes at a time. In general, try to answer any question from different perspective.
> Read up about all the departments of the hospital & in particular in which you have applied.
> See your hospital/ exact building location at least on google map and how to reach there, a day before. I had to go for my 1st one in SO. So, I saw on google maps than a personal visit!
> Keep all your documents (physically & electronically) available. I had it always- once during my 3rd interview, some documents were not printed but were mentioned in my Job application/Cover letter. They asked me a copy of it and I showed them the physical original ones and my application email as well.
In almost in all interview, I had to show the Swiss laws for non-EU doctors
So, my point: keep all docx in mute laptop/tablet + 1 set in pen drive/ Harddisk/ on cloud storage for immediate transfer/print out.
> Prepare your own list of questions, and be sure to ask at least something intelligently during the interview, to show that you are interested and not merely dependent on their processes.
(Questions about salary should not be at the top of your list. In Switzerland, basic salaries are fixed for Assistenzarzt & even Oberarzt but could vary on individual basis depending clinical experiences, papers published etc.)
Upon successful job placement, if one doesn´t already resident of Switzerland. Your future employer will register you for your Resident Permit at local migration office. One receives normally "L Permit" as resident doctor, if there is no family reunion or previous residence history in Schengen as well as EU region.
I guess I have written all that I followed or had experienced during my interview.
I wish you good luck for your interview & do let us know: how it was..!
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