Moving to Iceland as an foreign doctor
Speciallæge Corina Labitzke arbejder aktuelt som anæstesi- og intensivlæge på Akureyri Hospital, Island.
Her skriver hun lidt om sine erfaringer med at flytte til Island for at arbejde som udenlandsk læge.
I moved to Iceland in 2018 following multiple visits on holidays. Every time I loved it there and I actually felt sad when it was time to leave again. I have worked in different countries before such as Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Croatia and Australia – I really like the challenge moving to another country poses.
Moving to Iceland was easy being an EU national with a European diploma, I was welcomed very heartly by my team. We are a very international team, so people are able to give advice to newcomers on how to handle things quite easily. What surprised me was that there are hardly male nurses, I am used to it being almost 50/50 in ICU and anaesthesia.
We are a very international team, so people are able to give advice to newcomers on how to handle things quite easily.
Further I noticed that in Iceland the communities are still really communities, family here has another value than in most western civilizations. The way everyone is happy with a sunny day is amazing. How nature is such a force here and you just adjust to that. That being said, I love winter, the light is so special, and one is almost living in sunrise and sunset all the time. Yes, it is also grey and dark, and I do take some vitamin D supplements but otherwise fine.
Some would say the Icelandic language is hard to learn but I really want to learn more. When I first arrived I did not get a lot of structured language instruction but I started taking lessons again now. I miss being able to express myself with patients, so that is what I am working towards. Being able to do jokes and use idiomatic speech is an absolute goal for me.
I would surly recommend to other doctors to consider moving to Iceland for a job. Just do it
To my surprise only a small part of apartments here are being rented out, mostly people buy apartments or houses, I was not aware of that. In the beginning I moved into a SAk owned apartment until I found a place of my own. I would surly recommend to other doctors to consider moving to Iceland for a job. Just do it 🙂