Considering my options re working abroad for 12 months

[FrankieC]

I have been qualified and working as a physiotherapist in the UK for the last 7 years and would now like to consider my options for spending some time working abroad and would like some help in considering my options!

Ideally I would like to spend 12 months abroad in an English speaking country working in a hospital doing rehab or respiratory as opposed to private out patient work. My question is, is there anywhere easier to get work than others and do all countries require hard exams to register my qualifications?

I know my post is very vague but I am only in the early stages of considering this and don't have anyone else to discuss it with! I will gratefully accept any advice and support available!

Many thanks x

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[Fyzzio]

Hi,
why don't you just start by checking the registration authorities of English speaking countries? This will give you an idea about the requirements for registration and the costs involved.
You will need to undergo some kind of assessment in all countries, but that's not always an exam (e.g. Australia) but could involve preparing a portfolio (e.g. NZ).
As to the job situation - I can only talk about the situation down here - there are jobs in Australia and NZ, but not as many as there were a few years ago.
With hospital respiratory and sufficient experience, I presume you'll always find a job. There's not many Specialists in this area.

Good luck,
Fyzzio

[shay5950]

I think your area of speciality makes it harder;

I work in Sports/MSK and have worked in around 7 or so countries now (mostly non-English speaking). I am Australian, worked in Africa and Asia. Some countries (but not many) do require a exam, actually most don't. Usually a review of your experiences, references, education transcripts and home country registration are probably is required. But the issue being this will take a long time and a lot of money, for example for me to get registered in England took over 6 months to get approved, and around $800 pounds. That said, Australia, Canada, and USA require exams, and most the rest do not unless they think your experience and transcripts are not up to their standards. Now the issue is medical systems are vastly different worldwide, i have it easier because MSK/Sports Physio is different to hospital. This is because in many countries the exams (or medical board registration) is only required for those who work in the hospitals. But the world has 204 countries, and even if they not native English speakers, most countries in the world have highly education part of society with great English. And i can say i have been able to communicate very well even in mainland China, Japan, and Korea.