Working in Italy or France?

[eire]

Hi,

I'm an Irish trained physio currently working in the States with active Irish and US licenses to practice. I am looking into moving to either the French or Italian alps and I'm try to compare the two health systems and the difficulty in getting licensed to practise physio in each country.

Does anyone have information about getting either a French or Italian physio license?

Does anyone have any experience working in the French or Italian health system? How does physio differ in these countries compared to UK/Ireland or the USA?

Thanks for any help.

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[physiofitness]

I am afraid I cannot help you with any info on Italy or France but I was wandering if you could help me. I am trying to get to the states to work and it just seems such a long process. In fact they are now saying there is a 1 year wait on the H1B visa. Could you please tell me how you managed to secure a position over there?
Many thanks

[eire]

It was a total nightmare. It took a year to sort out and even then when I got here I had to do a 6 month traineeship before I could do the board exams and get my licence. The process varies from state to state so you will have to contact the state boards for info about the particular state you want to go to. Apparently New York is the easiest. I'm in Virginia, and I feel like they've never dealt with foreign PT's before because no-one seemed to know what I was supposed to do. I came because my husband is from here so I got a visa because of him. Otherwise H1B is the only feasible option, which as you say has a long waiting list.
Good Luck!

[virginie]

Hi, I'm a French physio.

In France, you can work in hospital, clinic, private practice (most of the French physio like me)...
To work as a physio in France, you must hold a registration. I think you'll have to proove your level of French and then you'll probably have to take exams (practical and theorical). You should contact the French Physio Board called "Conseil de l'Ordre des Masseur-kinésithérapeutes" to have further detailed informations.

In France, you're not only a physio but also a massage therapist... It's the same diploma.

I hope it will help you. If you have more questions, you can ask me and I'll try to answer it even if my english is not perfect!

[Fyzzio]

even if my english is not perfect

Don't worry, you are doing very well.
But on that note: may I remind you all that to work in a European country, you actually do need to speak the national language, i.e. French in France, Italian in Italy, etc.
I don't mean to suggest that Physios like eire don't have those skills, it's just that I have met so many English speaking Physios, who believe they can work anywhere, because they speak English....

Cheers,
Fyzzio

[estherderu]

dear Eire,
I agree with Fizzphysio...
To work in a most countries in Europe, you have to speak their lingo.

More information can be given by the countries societies. For links to them go to Welcome to the World Confederation for Physical Therapy

I have worked in Holland, am Dutch, in Germany - speak German and now in Spain and my Spanish isn´t that good yet. In Spain there are numerous private clinics ( costa del sol) run by foreigners ( english, german, norwegen etc etc) and working there is possible if you speak English... but they prefer professionals who can speak more languages. To treat the spanish, you have to speak spanish.

Good luck.....
First things first, learn the language of the country you would like to go to. After all, to work in an english speaking country you are expected to be fluent in english as well....

Esther

[Alessia]

Ciao,
I'm an Italian physio and i keep working here since 2005.
To work here you have to apply for recognition of the license. You can download the request from the website of the Italian Ministry of Health at this link http://http://www.ministerosalute.it...ruemtieservizi
The procedure is different if you're a EU citizen or not, anyway the papers you've to submit are: your license issued by the competent authorities, detailed studies program, hours of work and trainig period or courses carried out.

Physiotherapy in Italy is quiet different if you work in a public hospital or in private clinics. In hospitals, work is managed by physicians "suggesting" what to do with patients, i'd like to define this as a collaboration between pro, but i realize that's not so real..There isn't so much autonomy.
The situation is actually different in private clinics,where the responsibility about the patient healing can be totally charged to the physiotherapist, so specialization must be strong.
I hope you'll find this info usefull..
Alessia

[cduinpssjt]

Hi

I am a qualified physiotherapist working in the U.K Nhs. I am interested in going to Italy to work for a while.

Does anyone know exactly what you need to be able to work in Italy as a Physiotherapist?

Do you need to be able to speak Italian or take any Italian tests?

Is there a professional body to register with?

Are there any useful websites I can visit for information?

Cheers

[Alessia]

Ciao,
as you can see in the previous post, to work in Italy you have to get licensed to practice, first. The procedure is online in the site of Italian Health Ministry. There are also telephone numbers which you can call for informations.

You can also see the WCPT site, where you can find infos about the Migration rights for physiotherapists.

In Italy there is the national association which is called AIFI. There isn't obligation to subscribe but you can visit the site http://http://www.aifi.net/

For working here i must say that you must speak italian because people here aren't used to speak other languages. You can use english only if you're going to work with some sport team, the ones at higher level.
For example the physio of Viadana Rugby team (which plays in the top level) is American, and the physio of Italian Fencing team is german...
Another possibility to work in Italy without speaking a lot of italian you can also find in countries close to state borders. In fact in Bolzano, for example, which is a city of the north, next to austria and switzerland, there is the major number of the population that speak german even if they're italian. Here it might be easier to find clinics looking for english speaking physio!
I hope you'll find your way!
Alessia

[simoukab]

hi ,everyone,it's nice to see all physios overseas ,i'm a moroccan physio with a russian master's degree in physical rehabilitation ,i passed frensh exam in paris ,and also worked fo a few months there .but the problem that i think in france you have to work in your own cabinet or clinical.so you have to make the good choice and good luck

[Haripriya]

Hey guys. I have a doubt. To work in Italy or France we have to clear the license exam. Will it be in English or their own language?

[Tarunkumar]

Hey guys. I have a doubt. To work in Italy or France we have to clear the license exam. Will it be in English or their own language?

Hi. Did you get something out of your research?

[estherderu]

Hi. Did you get something out of your research?

If you read the information posted earlier, you will read that you need to know the language of the country you want to work in. It does not have to be perfect, but you need to speak, read and write.