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.

[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