<p>First of all, I am new on here and am hopefully posting this in the correct forum.
I would like to go into nursing and become a midwife. I am currently a high school junior, almost a senior, in the USA. Although English is my second language (Spanish being my first and French being my third), I do believe that I can speak, read, and write well in English (hopefully that does not sound conceited). I was wondering if it would be difficult for me to go to London, study nursing, and have a job there. I would also like to know how much of a chance there will be for me to be able to do any of that. If it helps, I have been looking into the University of West London, Kings College London, and the University of Brighton. I do have a list of colleges/universities in the US that I have looked into as well (in case I will not be able to study in London), if anyone would like to know. If any additional information is needed, I will gladly add it. Any advice, suggestions, or tips will be appreciated. Thank you for your time! </p>
<p>There are four main logistical issues to consider:</p>
<ol>
<li>Do you meet the admission requirements for universities in England? There are two sets of requirements: academic prerequisites for admission (usually relevant coursework at the AP level) and residence/citizenship requirements. British nursing students usually don’t pay tuition. Their education is paid for by the NHS (the universal health care provider in the UK). NHS funding requires European citizenship or British permanent resident status. Some universities (including Kings College and Brighton) require NHS eligibility and won’t consider self-funded applicants for admission.</li>
</ol>
<p><a href=“Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery | Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care | King’s College London”>Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery | Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care | King’s College London;
<a href=“http://about.brighton.ac.uk/snm/admissions/pre-reg.php?PageId=310”>http://about.brighton.ac.uk/snm/admissions/pre-reg.php?PageId=310</a></p>
<ol>
<li><p>Can you finance an education in Engand? Assuming that you are not a citizen or resident of Europe, there wouldn’t be any financial aid available to you from the European side, and probably none from the American side either. (Federal grants, state grants and federal student loans usually won’t be available for an education in Europe.) Tuition alone will range from $15,000 to $50,000 a year.</p></li>
<li><p>Are you sure that you want to remain in the UK after college? Since health care professions are so heavily regulated, it’s difficult to obtain a license to practice in a country other than the one you obtained your professional education in.</p></li>
<li><p>Are you willing to play the work visa ‘lottery’? In order to get a work permit, you’d either need close family in Britain (e.g. a partner or a parent) or find an employer willing to sponsor you for a visa. Since nursing is not currently a shortage occupation, you might struggle to find an employer willing to jump through hoops for you.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Oh wow I did not know that there was so much to that. I did not assume that it would be an easy thing to do, but did not expect it to be that much. Thank you very much for your time and detailed response! It was much appreciated! You don’t have to answer this, but do you think that I could at least study abroad in London? Would that depend on which college/university I go to and their study abroad programs? Overall, I had a feeling that there would be no chance of me being able to go to college in London, but I was curious as to whether I had some chance or not. The colleges/universities in America that I would hope be be accepted into include the University of San Francisco, Ohio State University, Kent State (OH), and Mt. Saint Mary’s College (CA). Would I simply have to look at their study abroad programs? Again, you do not have to answer, you have already done enough! </p>
<p>I’m not sure it would be impossible to get a work visa; there always seem to be lot of press stories about NHS trusts having to recruit from overseas; admittedly many of them are from the EU (which for the benefit of anyone who doesn’t know, means they have the automatic right to work in the UK), but this link from last year points to other countries as well:</p>
<p><a href=“Nursing shortage drives hospitals overseas | News | Health Service Journal”>Nursing shortage drives hospitals overseas | News | Health Service Journal;
<p>But I think there may be obstacles in the way of training in the UK because of your nationality.</p>
<p>OP: yes, check the requirements for the individual study abroad programmes. My guess would be that you could do it, but not studying nursing.</p>
<p>The “problem” with acute shortage reports of this kind is that they tend to attrack more young people into the field. That means that there might be an overage of nurses a few years from now. For example, this happened not too long ago with teachers in the US. Reports of too few teachers triggered a flood of new college graduates with teaching credentials a few years later. </p>
<p>I am sure that there’ll be a steady demand for nurses for decades to come. I’m just not so sure that you’d be able to get a work visa to work in London. You could write to a few hospitals in London who currently have openings for nurses, and ask them if they do generally sponsor work visas for foreign nationals? (Pretend to be a nurse looking for a job.) That could give you a first impression of what to expect.</p>
<p>I appreciate the help from both of you! Thank you very much for all of your information and for your time taken to help me! All of this has greatly helped me!</p>