Hi! Is it possible to live life as a physician in two different countries at a time? Are there any branches of medicine that would involve traveling to different places?
It’s possible–albeit extremely difficult-- to be licensed a physician in multiple countries.
Each country has its own educational requirements, clinical training requirements and licensing requirements and medical licenses from one country are NOT recognized by another country.
Most first world countries (US, UK, AUS, Canada, EU, South Africa, Israel, etc) do not recognize medical education or training undertaken outside of its borders. At best, you will need to negotiate with national medical board for each country you wish to practice in to have your medical education recognized and declare equivalent to medical education offered in the new country, then you’ll need to study for and pass a series of standardized exams covering basic science knowledge (genetics, biochemistry, neuroscience, etc), medical topics (pharmacology, immunology, embryology, histology), diagnostic skills and clinical skills. You must also demonstrate a very high level of fluency (oral and written) in the local language. You then typically are required to undergo a period of clinical retraining. This retraining can range from several months to several years. The retraining is followed by additional standardized exams that you must pass if you want to practice independently (not undergo the direct supervision of another physician).
The only way most US educated physician practice in countries outside the US is under the auspices of an international NGO medical relief organization like MSF/Doctors Without Borders. These doctors cannot set up shop and open their practices, but they can work in designated charity-sponsoed medical care sites.
There is subfield of medicine called [Travel</a> Medicine](<a href="http://www.istm.org%5DTravel">http://www.istm.org), but travel medicine physicians don't travel--they specialize in treating people who travel, particularly to less developed regions.About the only field of medicine I can think of that might involve traveling to other countries is [Disaster Medicine](Disaster medicine - Wikipedia)–which is sub-specialty within emergency medicine.
But disaster specialists would spend 99% of their time working as plain, ole ordinary EM docs and only travel to sites elsewhere in the world in cases of direst emergencies–hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, epidemics.
There are Adventist Hospitals outside the US that employ American trained physicians and dentists. I don’t think they travel to practice between the US and the country where the facility is where they work.
Oh wow! I never knew of that! Thanks! @WayOutWestMom @NorthernMom61
There must be American physicians who work for the CDC or WHO that travel as part of their responsibilities.
Outside of particular niche situations like the ones above, practicing in multiple countries doesn’t really exist.
In EU countries that is very possible. My friend’s D who is a German national and was educated in Germany, she is practicing in Geneva.
Is your friend’s D practicing in both Germany and Switzerland? That is what OP is asking about; not whether it is possible to train in one country and then practice in another.
Not sure if she had the time traveling between two countries. But I think she can practice in both countries. She was doing a fellowship in Canada few years ago.
Oh wow thanks! @artloversplus @iwannabe_Brown
What about becoming a Peace Corps doctor? I’m not sure what it takes but the Peace Corps has doctors in every country in which it has volunteers.
I believe the PC doc where my kid was was internal medicine.